Mentoring:Three Reasons Not to Mentor -Pastor Paul

I think the thought of becoming a mentor

frightens Christians for at least three reasons!

Reason One:    There is something seemingly arrogant about the   idea of being a Mentor.
Reason Two:     I certainly don't know enough to mentor anyone.
Reason Three:   If I do become a mentor than I will be responsible for what I say I believe.

If I think I am better, smarter, bigger, stronger, and more spiritual than somebody else then I am probably too arrogant to be a mentor.  However, if I am a sinner/seeker/servant, willing to let Jesus use  my story, mistakes, and victories to encourage another then I might qualify.  The older I get the less I know and the more questions I ask.  When I meet to mentor, it is just one beggar showing another beggar where to look for the bread.  Honestly and willingness outweigh intellectual competence every time!  You don't need to sit upon the mountain top to mentor.  Being a step or two ahead on the path is all it takes!

God doesn't call us to mentor based upon what we don't know.  You don't want me fixing your car, doing your taxes, fixing your teeth, or roofing your house.  In fact there are countless things I know little or nothing about.  But there are things God has taught me, usually through mistakes, that can encourage and assist another believer on their journey.  Sometimes the best mentoring gift I can offer is an open heart and a closed mouth.  Sometimes people just need someone to listen and love them.  It is amazing how in our silence the Holy Spirit can speak.  If we will simply enter the process, their is no telling what God will say or do!

It has been said that the teacher learns more than the students.  The preacher spends a great deal more time working through the message than the hearers ever will.  The same is true for mentoring.  I might meet to mentor another, only to find that God has sent them to mentor me!   Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.  Mentors prepare, read, pray, listen, reflect, confess, and wonder deeply what God is saying and doing.  You can't care deeply about God's work in another, without God taking His work in you to a different level!  When we show up to mentor another it will cause us to look more deeply into the mirror of our own soul.  We will only be able to help people find a path that we are walking our self.  If we are off wandering in the weeds it is only a matter of time before God and our mentee  help us see where we are!

There are two other things at work.  One is fear and the other is satan.  The father of lies does not want people gathering in two's and three's, honestly sharing their hopes and dreams.  He does not want sins confessed, prayers prayed, and plans made.  He knows that discipleship relationships are the single most powerful method of Christian transformation and formation.  Satan will do anything he can to keep us from such a relationship.  He will use our fear of the unknown, and our fear of our own potential, to keep us from exploring the powerful potential of mentoring.

My prayer as your pastor is that God will connect you with a mentor, who will guide you in the process of becoming a mentor.  I pray that God uses you to birth a pyramid of disciple making mentors that rock their worlds for Jesus.  AMEN, AMEN, AMEN     Paul