Partnering
To Develop
Thoughts on the
value and experience of mentoring
W
We are called
to share our life stories. As you page
through your Bible, you will find verse after verse where God
has instructed people to tell their children stories. Jesus was
continuously connecting to people through stories. He lived
alongside of His disciples for three years and they watched as His
life story unfolded. Jesus showed us story telling was important
by modeling for us the art of conveying deep messages through
story; this was his primary model of ministering to the masses
here on earth.
Jesus came alongside people daily. He spent hours with others
on their turf. He asked significant questions and then waited for
their responses. What’s surprising, however, is that Jesus didn’t
spend the majority of His time with the multitudes, but with just
a few. He gave them an opportunity to see His deity up close and
personal by walking faithfully with them. “And because of His
love for His Father and the ‘realness’ in which He loved each of
them, they took on His characteristics and His mission” (That
Makes Two of Us by Connie Witt).
Jesus wasn’t the only individual from Scripture who shared
His life stories. God has given us both Old Testament and
New Testament models: Moses and Joshua, Naomi and Ruth,
Elizabeth and Mary, Paul and Timothy. These men and women
thought it important enough to intentionally invest in the younger
generation. Some walked together for a season; others became
life-long friends and companions, leaving a legacy of godliness
after they left this earth. And so did Jesus. Before He ascended He
said to His mentoring group, “Go therefore and make disciples…
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”
(Matthew 28:19-20, ESV).
Paul reiterates what Jesus commissioned us to do, but with
emphasis on reaching those in the church. “[Older women] are
to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love
their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working
at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the
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by Maribeth Herr
Photography by Jessica Burdge
word of God may not be reviled… Show yourself in all respects to
be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity,
dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned…” (Titus
2:3-5, 7-8, ESV). Some title this, “The Titus Mandate”, a call we
should consider serious as we live out our Christianity. You are
not an island. What you do affects other people. Why not follow
Jesus’ example in growing people in their walk with Him by your
lifestyle?
There is much wisdom in this command from Paul. “The older
women have experienced life, have learned lessons that don’t
need to be repeated, have learned to submit to the hand of
God, [resulting in] a deeper dependency upon God. Mentoring
gives an opportunity for relationship, to bridge the gap between
generations,” a wise older woman told me. This is why I believe
mentoring is a serious call on our lives and not just something
that’s another good thing we can do once we have time. As Susan
Hunt writes in her book, Spiritual Mothering, “If Christian
women begin to fathom the power of our God-given capacity,
develop these God-honoring characteristics, and nurture younger
women, perhaps we will see the fruit of righteousness flourish in
women in our decade”. As women of experience come along side
younger women who display a teachable spirit, we all become
privileged to obey the Titus mandate.
What are people from our communities saying on the
topic of mentoring? Here are a few comments:
“In our Anabaptist circles, we do well in preaching evangelism
and bringing our young people to the knowledge of their need of
a Savior. But over the past dozen years of my life, I have seen so
many young people make a commitment to Christ in their early
teens, only to backslide in their later teen years. I believe they
were genuine in wanting to serve the Lord, but we failed them in
follow up and discipleship… I think mentoring could really help
fill in that gap.”
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