In his upcoming book, “Chaordic Leadership:Making Disciples by Leading Among Not From” Gary Gooddell gives a great character sketch of Jesus’ ministry style:

Where Would Jesus Lead?

Who was this walking, strolling, wandering Master Teacher? Who was this peripatetic rabbi whose walks turned into life lessons and whose strolls turned into blasts of transformational truths. Who was this storyteller so skilled at communicating that it was though His stage and all of his teaching aids and props followed Him around to miraculously appear at the maximum moment?

For the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus operated with a word of knowledge and prophecy, Matthew 16 becomes a serious Q & A moment as He used an arousing survey that released the truth about His identity. To the blind man at Jericho it was mud and spittle; to a demoniac in Mark’s gospel it was an exorcism into a herd of pigs that provided a regional evangelism assignment.

To the street walker His pausing in a home for a meal meant an appointed anointing with costly perfume, to a man blind from birth in John 9, it meant an apologetics of generational questions gone bad, and on a stormy sea it was an afternoon nap and a rebuke of the storm that produced both faith and fear in His disciples.

In Mark 6 it was the gathering of a large hungry crowd in and a small boy’s lunch of sardines and muffins that turned into a bread and fish buffet miracle that caused the crowd to want to make Him an earthly king.

To a tree out of season it was a lesson on faith and fruit bearing, to a conspicuous child set in they’re midst it meant a revelation of the character of childlikeness.

And where did all of these learning moments happen? In a classroom? In a school hall? In the assembly hall of the local synagogue? And was this a preset series of preplanned systematic theology that needed to be completed through the fill-in-the-blanks bulletin inserts or notebooks?

What did it mean for Jesus to walk among His friends, doing the Father’s will and being constantly available and ready to debrief with questions, probing ideas, interaction and the constant presence of miracles, signs, wonders, and healings.  What about all of these parables, and what about the stories?

I remember a friend saying to me once, “Gary, do you really want to do what Jesus did?” His answer was to pick a dozen guys, live with them day in and day out, and see what that experiment becomes.

Sometimes we make ministry too regimented and formulaic.  If we are truly led by the Spirit, virtually any circumstance is a ministry opportunity. Let’s “experiment” with Jesus’ methods for a while.

For more info on Gary’s books and other writings visit his site: www.thirddaychurches.com