Be a Mentor (Part 1)

by Lynn Anderson

Church leaders are being pounded on all sides. Elders and ministers face overwhelming expectations and a rapidly changing playing field while at the same time feeling hampered by unworkable systems.

Too many good people burn out or wind up with broken spirits.

Yet, amazingly, a host of elders and ministers keep hanging in, although some huddle in grim loyalty amid the ruins of failing churches. But, the story line is changing. A fresh wave of leaders is emerging who sense the urgency of God’s mission, who read the rapidly changing terrain of the playing field, and who pursue the heart and the new skills needed to lead God’s church effectively into this 21^stcentury environment.

What is more–they are looking for mentors.

Mentoring?

Cultural anthropologists tell us that almost every social unit across history and around the globe has clearly recognized adult role models or wisdom figures/mentors. We seem to do better when they are in our lives.

God has written the mentor concept into human nature and into the Bible, as well. No, the actual word “mentor” is not in the Bible, of course. But, the concept is written all over the ministry of Jesus and of the apostles–as well as in instruction for the rest of us.

Christian mentoring is unique, however, because Jesus stood popular human leadership on its head. He said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant.” This, of course, means that spiritual leaders are to be identified in a radically different way and upon different criteria than leaders are usually recognized in other arenas. In a nutshell, “A spiritual leader is the kind of person that God-hungry people want to be like.”

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