CHRISTIAN MENTORING

Being a Christian mentor is modeling and teaching other Christians, the precepts of the Bible concerning the Christian life. It focuses mainly on worship, prayer, doctrine, and the proper relationships we are to have with both believers and unbelievers. It is the practicing of what the Apostle Paul called "mutual faith" (Rom. 1:12). He described those who established the Church, and the purpose of mentoring in Ephesians 4:11-16:

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

This is the strength of the Church; without it, we will fail, both personally, and collectively as the Body of Christ. Mentoring has two main aspects: first, we must submit to the mentoring of others, and then, when our mentors tell us we are ready, we are to "pass it on." Paul said it this way: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (2 Tim. 2:1-2).

The concept of mentoring has been lost in the American Church today. First of all, new converts are not taught that they are "baby Christians," and that they need to be trained in the ways of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 3:1, Paul wrote: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." The Apostle Peter wrote: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). New believers must be changed, before they should attempt to change others!

The second reason Christian mentoring has become a lost art, is because "babes in Christ" do not grow up! By failing to mature as Christians, they tend to do more harm than good when it comes to sharing the Gospel with the lost. Immature Christians often deserve the label "hypocrite" because they have not learned self-discipline, and as a result, do not "practice what they preach." Hebrews 5:12 says, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

The true test of my preparedness to be a mentor for Christ can be determined by my answer to one question: "Do I want to influence others to be like me?" If the answer is yes, go for it; if the answer is no, repent!