Ingredient #3: Finding the Right People
The WIGTake for Spiritual Generations
All 12 Ingredients for Spiritual Generations and Podcasts
By Pheaney (Peter) Lindell and Chuck & Deb Wood
Coming off the heels of our last ingredient—unconditional, messy, all-in love—this next step might feel a bit jarring. If we are called to love everyone, how can we be highly selective with our time? It feels contradictory, yet it is the most loving thing we can do for the mission.
Nobody loved people more than Jesus. He is the Great Shepherd. He loves everyone. Yet, for the sake of the world, He chose a few to invest in deeply. It seems counter-intuitive, but it was the most loving thing He could do. It is a matter of stewardship and capacity.
Even with perfect character, Jesus did not attempt to spiritually reproduce His life into everyone. He modeled a counter-cultural principle: to reach the many, we must focus on the few.
The Jesus Model
Jesus launched His ministry by proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom far and wide (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 9:35). His catalytic strategy was an aggressive and indiscriminate “seed sowing,” paired with serving people through healing and deliverance.
This broad approach drew massive crowds, but He used the gospel as an initial test to identify who was ready for deeper investment. The gospel became the filter—distinguishing those who simply wanted a miracle from those who received the truth and were willing to share it with others.
Jesus didn’t set up a sign-up sheet in the synagogue and wait for volunteers. He actively sought out specific individuals. When He saw Simon and Andrew, He issued a command to follow, and “immediately they left their nets and followed Him” (Mark 1:18-20). He was looking for availability and an immediate responsiveness to His voice.
Later, He made this selection formal. From the wider crowd of followers, “He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him” (Mark 3:14).
Notice the exclusivity here. Jesus loved the world, but He poured His life into twelve men.
He understood the principle of the soil, which He taught in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-20). He knew that spreading the seed of the Kingdom everywhere was necessary, but only the “good soil”—those who hear the word and accept it—would bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. He invested His deepest truths into the soil that would multiply.
This wasn’t favoritism; it was stewardship. In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus described these men as “the men whom You gave Me out of the world” (John 17:6-8). He recognized that the Father had sovereignly prepared specific people for Him to shape.
No one loves like Jesus, and this filtering or selectivity was a key component of His love.
The Scriptural Model
The Apostles followed this same pattern of selective investment. When Paul visited Lystra, he didn’t just pick a random volunteer to join his mission team. He identified a specific young man named Timothy. The text notes a crucial detail: “he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him” (Acts 16:1-3).
Paul was looking for someone who was already faithful in his current context. Timothy wasn’t a project; he was a proven disciple. He had a reputation for godliness among the local believers. Paul understood that you cannot build a global mission on someone who isn’t faithful in their local setting.
We see the same thing happen when the apostles appoint deacons in Acts 6. They asked the congregation to select men who had a good reputation. And they were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
Finding the right people involves looking for those who are already serving, already growing, and already trusted by others. It is about spotting the grace of God that is active in someone’s life before you even ask them to join you.
Stories
We had just launched our ministry at Fort Benning, Georgia, and we immediately hit a wall. The men we were discipling began to complain. They felt torn, caught in a time crunch between their commitments to us and their obligations at their “legacy church” in town.
I told them, not without a little trepidation, “Throw 100% of your energy into that church.” It was a great church, and they would be well fed there. I was fully prepared to empty the room and start from scratch to find the men who would join us without distractions.
But the room didn’t empty completely. Two men stayed back. They told me they wanted to throw in with my wife, Deb, and me. One of them was a single Airborne Ranger Captain named Jim.
I looked at Jim and realized this was the moment he needed to count the cost. “If you want training, I need you to be all in,” I told him, “it will cost you.”
I laid out a plan. I asked him to move out of his fancy loft apartment downtown and move into our house, taking the spare room right next to my teenage sons. But the harder ask was spiritual. He had to leave the “high-speed” church downtown—the one with the concert-quality music, dynamic preaching, and rows of cute girls.
Instead, his Sunday mornings would be spent at the post chapel. The music there was terrible, the sermons were weak sauce, and the congregation consisted mostly of retirees and the occasional young soldier dragging himself in after a rough Saturday night just to pay penance. (These young soldiers were the reason we were there; they were our target.)
It wasn’t an easy yes. There was deep prayer and even a few doubts as Jim wrestled with the cost. But eventually, he “dropped his nets.” He chose the mission over comfort. He heeded the call so many have responded to since Jesus first issued it;
“Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)
That was over twenty years ago. He was willing to trade tradition for training. Jim is now seeing disciples of Jesus made all over the Army and across three different continents. He was the right guy to invest in.
Suggestions
Create a Filter: Don’t chase people; give them a small challenge to see if they follow through. Ask them to read a specific chapter of the Bible or memorize a verse before your next meeting. If they don’t do it, you have your answer about their current availability.
Look for “FASTR” People: Scan your sphere of influence for people who are Faithful, Available, Seed Sowing, Teachable, and Reproducing. Prioritize character over charisma or talent.
Prayer Selection: Before you invite someone into a discipling relationship, spend at least one week praying specifically for God to confirm that person. Follow the example of Jesus, who prayed all night before choosing the twelve.
Application for Disciple Makers
For us, the WIGTake is learning to discern who God has given us. We often exhaust ourselves trying to drag unwilling people toward maturity, while overlooking the hungry ones right in front of us. Finding the right people means looking for “good soil” (responsiveness to the Word) and “good reputation” (faithfulness in community). You cannot build spiritual generations on people who are merely interested; you build on those who are committed to obeying the Word they have received. Stop chasing those who are running away, and start running with those who are ready to move.
Once we find the right people, we can’t just “hang out.” Love and selection must lead to a clear call to action. Next week: Ingredient #4: Authoritative Vision Casting.
Is this the best series on Substack right now? Because it kind of feels like it