I found this quote thought-provoking,
Jesus selected and prepared the company of twelve disciples as the prefiguration of the people of God, the continuation and extension of Israel as God’s witness to the nations. The resurrected Lord encountered his confused disciples in Galilee and continued their formation into a “missionary community,” a “sent out people,” whose apostolic ministry would become possible when the Spirit came upon them, when the promised Paraclete entered into their midst. Their transition from discipleship to apostolate was Jesus’ intention in his formation of the church as the community which was “to prolong the logic of his own ministry in an imaginative and creative way amid historical circumstances that were in many respects new and different.” This strong sense of Jesus’ preparation of the early church for its mission pervades all four Gospels. It is clearly stated in the earliest Gospel when Jesus calls the twelve, “whom he also name apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the messgae, and to have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:13-14). It is the dominanat theme of the latest Gospel: “As the Father hath sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21; “sending” = “mission”). (The Continuing Conversion of the Church, Guder, p.50)
I love your quote, I think it speaks very well to Christians who appreciate the wonder-working power of the Spirit to do great things within people who others might not ever believe such great things could happen through them.
Somtimes I wonder why Jesus chose the 12 he did- the fishermen, the tax collector, loud and obnoxious brothers- I am thinking God chose the most unlikely of candidates for the job of church making. Their utter dependancy on the Spirit probably ensured that more great things would be accomplished rather than, an organized and systematic approach that would have aliented more converts than it would have attracted.
This is one of my big beefs with religion- it tends to alienate those who need God the most, or in the very least, marginalize them. I think God does God’s most amazing work through those who others don’t think could carry out the task. Which, when you think about it, kind of addresses some of the arguments about organized church leadership and “models for ministry” structures that seem to dominate church growth strategies. Now that I think about it, I am sure this is what you meant to begin with. 🙂