First, to be with him
Jesus appoints the Twelve
When Jesus appoints the Twelve, Mark records the order with deliberate care: he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach. With him first. Before they were sent, before they preached or healed a single person, they were called simply to be with him — to watch, to listen, to absorb, to belong.
The sending flowed out of the being-with, never the reverse. The power for the mission came from the presence of the One who sent them, not from their own reserves.
“Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
— Peter, to Jesus — John 6:68 (WEB)
Be with him before you go for him. Fruitful leadership flows out of time in Christ's presence; sending that outpaces being-with runs dry.
“He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach.”
The Twelve were formed by proximity before they were deployed for production. A leader shaped here guards time simply to be with Jesus, refusing to let usefulness crowd out communion. He knows that what he draws on in public is filled in private. The inner work is keeping being-with prior to, and larger than, being-sent.
Protect the practices that keep you with Jesus before you measure your output for him. Build rhythms for your team where formation and presence precede performance, not the reverse. When someone is running dry, send them back to the source rather than pushing them to produce more. Treat depletion as a signal to return to being-with, not to try harder.
Driven leaders quietly invert the order, valuing the sending and neglecting the being-with, until they are pouring from an empty cup. The blind spot is treating time with Jesus as optional overhead rather than the very thing that makes the going possible.
This week, put time simply to be with Jesus on your calendar before your work, not after whatever is left. Guard it like a meeting you cannot move, and notice how it changes what you bring to the people you lead.
Ministry that is all sending and no being-with eventually runs dry. The most activist leaders are often the most depleted, because they have inverted the order — pouring out from a presence they no longer take time to receive.
Is your leadership flowing out of time spent with him, or have you been sent so long that you have forgotten to come back and be with him first?