"Yes, Uh, I would like one order of Mentors please."

What I been thinking on…….

About two years ago a dear Brother of mine said something to me that really has stuck. He said (not a direct quote but the gist of it):

“In the Bible most of the time the apostles had mentors, one example being Barnabas and Paul, then Paul and Timothy, do we have this kind of mentoring in the church?”

We rolled the question around together and came to the conclusion that we do…..and we don’t.  I feel that there is mentoring and discipleship in the church, for those who seek it out.  This can be a daunting task for the ones who have not an outgoing personality, or perhaps low self-confidence.  Most of the time young people are just that, young, and the idea of approaching and talking to someone older is terrifying.  I can think of certain ones who are older than me that, through the process of time, I have developed a relationship with.  The kind of relationship where I can call them and talk about: scripture, church culture, relationship problems, family problems, how to help my local crowd or their local crowd, battles I am facing, whatever is on my heart and mind.  These relationships have SAVED my LIFE.  I don’t know where I would be without some of these mentors.  This type of relationship is beneficial in many ways:

1^st) Having a open conversation about the Bible enhancing your spiritual experience, encourages you to “read more” and best of all exalts Jesus in your mind and life.  Your conversation helps your conversation (life).

2^nd) This type of relationship builds a mode of trust that allows for open exhortation.  If you’re like me, solid exhortation is not always comfortable; furthermore, giving solid exhortation is not always comfortable.  A true mentor/mentored relationship will allow for more “exhortation experiences”, this is good because whether we want to accept it or not exhortation MUST be in the church for the church to prosper.

3^rd) The likelihood of backsliding will greatly decrease.  I will not say that it will stop all together because humans can fake just about anything, but if the first two points are true and consistent then it will decrease backsliding (I hope and pray).  For “A two fold cord is not easily broken.”(I recognize this is slightly out of context, but work with me here.)

To sum up……….I realize that nothing can replace the personal one-on-one time with God.  Nothing will do more good for a person than having ample spiritual communion.  What I am thinking on is how to promote that.  I ask you to stop and think.  Do you think this is needful, beneficial?  If so, are we doing it?  If we are, how can we do it better?

What are your thoughts?  What have you been thinking on? (Please reply to my direct e-mail listed below, comment or follow.)