Letter from Denominational Minister

Mentoring

What can explain the amazing fact that you find yourself to be a minister of the gospel?

My guess would be that one common experience among us would be that early on, someone came to us and said “you could do that.” What they thought we could do may, in retrospect, appear very insignificant, like being a helper at a kid’s club or making a poster. That’s how ministry started for me. I was mentored by a youth sponsor in my church who believed in me in a way that I could not imagine let alone believe; and he went out of his way to find ways to affirm what he saw.

According to Walter Wright, mentoring is “…an intentional, exclusive, intensive voluntary relationship between the leader and the follower …in which one person empowers the other by sharing him- or herself and his or her resources.” [p.44, Walter Wright, Relational Leadership, Paternoster,2000.]

Someone saw some raw potential, some glint of gifting, and were moved to affirm what they saw and encourage us to take new risks of service, or leadership.

Who mentored you? Can you imagine that you could have gotten anywhere as a leader or pastor without the time, encouragement and personal investment that that person gave you?

Mentoring is in the DNA of leadership development as seen in the New Testament.

Jesus poured enormous amounts of time and energy into 12 individuals. Then these 12 disciples took what they had learned form Jesus and passed it on to others. And so the church exploded into life, and grew.

A most remarkable model of mentoring is the apostle Barnabas, whose name actually means “son of encouragement.” If, with the guidance of a Concordance, you look up every reference to Barnabas in the New Testament, you will see what mentoring looks like.

When a new convert called Saul was shunned by the church of Jerusalem [after all it was Saul who had been terrorizing them], Barnabas “took him and brought him to the disciples.” Barnabas was the one person who took the time to discover that Paul’s conversion was for real and that he had great potential as a witness to the resurrected Christ. [Acts 9:26,27.] He believed in Saul when no one else could.

Somewhat later, when the church of Antioch was becoming the center of the mission to non-Jews, Barnabas brought Saul to work along side him in the gospel ministry there. Then, Barnabas again saw Saul’s potential and recruited the brilliant young convert to leadership in the most challenging opportunity facing the new church. Consequently, Barnabas and Saul were sent by the church of Antioch on a mission to the Gentiles; all the while Barnabas was mentoring Saul.

It is interesting that in the early chapters of Acts, the narrative reads “Barnabas and Saul;” then, the order is reversed and we read, “Paul, [Saul’s new name] and Barnabas.” Mentoring was successful: the one mentored outgrew his mentor.

The kingdom of God does not progress so much through big impressive events, or brilliant strategy, but it is measured in hours of time given in attention to another, by cups of coffee, in energy invested in listening, affirming and encouraging.

Pastors and leaders are gifted for their ministries by God’s Spirit, but it is up to us to see this gifting and to recognize the raw beginnings of potential, then to provide a ministry of mentoring.

How strategic is mentoring?
How many of our pastorates are empty?
How many churches will be looking for pastors when the baby boomers go into retirement?

Have you discovered the exciting art of mentoring?