Leadership through Discipleship #10

Andrew – The Power of Deference

“One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ” (John 1:40-41).

According to the Gospel of John it appears that Andrew could have been one of the first disciples to follow Jesus. Two disciples of John the Baptist were watching as Jesus passed close by. John proclaimed Him to be “the Lamb of God.” From that moment the two disciples left John to follow after Jesus. One of them was identified in Scripture as being Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter (John 1:40). Andrew was not content just to have found a Rabbi, he sought out his brother saying, “We found the Messiah!” and he brought him to Jesus.

From the moment of this introduction Simon, whom Jesus named Peter, would be more prolific, more noticed, and more quoted throughout the Biblical text. We never see Andrew in a negative light. In the brief exposure in the Scripture he is seen as a faithful follower and a passionate disciple. Apparently he was happy to defer to his brother and see the success of the one he had introduced to Jesus.

His gift was as an enabler, one who was happy to help others find fulfillment. It was Andrew who saw the need when Jesus taught the massive crowd in the mountain across the Sea of Galilee. There was no place to send them to eat, no place to even purchase food if they had the resources, yet Jesus asked “Where can we buy bread for them to eat?” Andrew, the enabler, came to the Lord and suggested that one lad had a lunch with him of five barley loaves and two small fish. Then, almost apologetically asked, “But what are they among so many?” (John 6:9). However, Jesus took the meager offering and multiplied it to feed the massive multitude.

On another occasion some Greeks had come to celebrate on one of the feast days. They heard of Jesus and sought him out. They found Philip and asked to see Jesus. Philip came to Andrew and Andrew brought him to Jesus. Andrew was always the enabler, helping others to succeed, assisting others to find their place. He was not one who sought the limelight or desired preeminence. Through this disciple we can learn the power of deference, the strength that comes through helping others succeed.