The key is to understand that Jesus spent most of his time with 12 chosen disciples, and majored on discipling, training and ultimately releasing them to do the work of the kingdom of God . If this is what Jesus did, who are we to try and do it any other way? Surely the Lord's example is something we can follow. True, his situation was spiritually and historically unique. His 12 were to become the foundation of the New Testament Church and the foundations of the City of God . But Jesus' method in fulfilling these things can also be an effective model for what he calls us to do today.

There have been many uses of the principle of 12 in Church history. Britain was evangelized by monks who built cells around the principle of 12. Wesley had his groups of 12, and Robert Coleman, 40 years ago in his book, Master Plan of Evangelism, pointed out the reasons why Jesus concentrated on his 12:

“Here is the wisdom of his method, and in observing it, we return again to the fundamental principle of concentration on those he intended to use. One cannot transform a world except as individuals in the world are transformed, and individuals cannot be changed except as they are molded in the hands of the Master. The necessity is apparent not only to select a few helpers, but also to keep the group small enough to be able to work with them… All of this certainly impresses one with the deliberate way that Jesus proportioned his life to those he wanted to train. It also graphically illustrates a fundamental principle of teaching: that other things being equal, the more concentrated the size of the group being taught, the greater the opportunity for effective instruction.” (Robert Coleman, Master Plan of Evangelism 30th Anniversary Edition, pages 29-31).

The principle of 12 is therefore clear. Whatever other significance of the number 12 holds, 12 is the optimum number for intense and personal discipleship. This is shown by the Lord's example as well as the work of sociologists today who confirm this principle.

The Model of 12 builds on this principle of 12 and organised the cells into groups of 12. This is where leaders are discipled, nurtured, trained and mentored. Each person in a group of 12 is encouraged to have their own cell where they fulfill their call as leaders – to evangelise the lost, nurture new believers and raise up leaders of their own – who in turn become part of their group of 12. And so the process is repeated. Once this multiplication according to the factor of 12 sets in, rapid growth begins to occur. The 12 grow to 144, and then to 1,728, to 20,736 and so on.

One of the greatest advantages of the Model of 12 is that everyone can be personally mentored and discipled into leadership. It is a relational, not a supervisory model, and that is characteristically how discipleship happens. People can make great progress in their Christian life and ministry, knowing there have the support and back up the Model of 12 gives them.