Mentoring A Teammate Series

You have fought the good fight, you have stayed the course, you have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7), and you are now on the precipice of realizing your hard sought-after calling. In pursuit of God’s best you may have wrestled with and overcome some internal spiritual battles, and individually resolved to press ahead in faith; however, actually laying hold of the Promised Land is no individual matter. From this point on, should you try to go at it alone, you will likely meet with defeat. In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 we read:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Did you catch what Solomon said? He stated that “two are better than one.” Why? Because they can help each other when the going gets tough. This is some sound advice, but our culture has taught us that if we want something then we – ourselves – must go out and get it. We hear messages like, “You can do anything you put your mind to,” and “If you want something, then you’ve got to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and go get it.” Notice how these messages emphasize “you” – it’s all up to you, and therefore you must be the one to do it.

According to Solomon, there are certain tasks that are too big for you to handle by yourself, without falling flat on your face or being overpowered by the enemy. Entering your calling, and doing anything ministry related is not something that should or could be done in isolation from others, for we are part of the Body of Christ, and we must work alongside others to fulfill God’s kingdom purposes, for that is how the Lord has ordained it (cf. Romans 12:3-5; 1 Corinthians 12:23-27).

There are too many people today who want to be the lone wolf, attempting to achieve things on their own; likely with the motive of self-glory should they succeed. More than likely, a lone wolf mentality will lead to failure when attempting God-sized tasks; and rather than bringing glory to the Father you will bring shame. In the book entitled Lessons in Leadership, Leslie Flynn shares the following advice: “Know when you cannot handle something yourself . . . The lone wolf syndrome has no place in the ministry. No pastor is gifted enough, wise enough, or strong enough to live apart from others”(1) – and this advice doesn’t just apply to pastors, but to anyone pursuing a calling and serving in ministry.

One of the best ways to see your calling realized it to select and train a teammate – at least one – and multiple teammates would be even better. For example, in starting churches, there is an approach called “team church planting,” in which individuals within an existing congregation are handpicked, trained, put to work serving somewhere within the church while being groomed as a leader; and then they are released and sent out to birth a new church with others who have been trained in a similar manner.(2) You may not be able to secure an entire team, but it is important to find someone with whom to share your vision and with whom you can aspire to the challenge.

This morning we are going to look at how Moses enlisted Joshua as his teammate in envisioning and realizing the dream of the Promised Land.

Selecting An Assistant (vv. 1-6)

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them-the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”