To many in vocational ministry, reaching and impacting as many people as you can for Jesus is a strong motivation. Pride and building a personal following can become the goal for some, but I would argue that most pastors and ministry leaders genuinely want to reach people for Jesus’ sake and not their own.

And yet it is quite easy to become discouraged when you feel as if you aren’t helping or impacting as many people as you would like.

But then I remember Jesus.

Jesus certainly influenced a lot of people, but he only truly discipled 12. He preached to and interacted with thousands, but he “did life” with mainly 12. Spent most of his time, even though he was and is the Savior of all, with 12 people.

Even if you aren’t a Christian, we can plainly see that those disciples went on to change the history of the entire world.

The reality is, no matter how big a platform you have, and this goes for any industry really, you really only deeply impact a few. Sure many people may read things you write or listen to things you say, and they may learn and grow a lot from that, but only a few people will truly get to know you on more than a surface level or from a distance.

So who are your “12?” Who are those closest to you that you can truly impact? The trickle down effect from that is much greater in the long run than having any sort of platform. It’s what Jesus did, maybe we (me!) should be more concerned with that than reaching the masses.

The disciples of Jesus, like Jesus, had a large platform as well. But like Jesus, they also focused on a select few to lead, teach, and grow. And slowly but surely, they changed the world.