You know there’s all kinds of people out there trying to sell you on some investment scheme. You know the kind. All you have to do is invest in their product or invest in their stocks or invest in their marketing plan and you’ll be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams! Of course the only people who are guaranteed to make money are the ones you’re giving your money to. You’ve got to be extremely careful with these get-rich-quick investment strategies out there.
But this morning I’m going to tell you of another kind of investment of a lifetime opportunity and it won’t cost you a single dime. And it’s an investment that will reap dividends for eternity.
I’m talking about the kind of investment you make in someone else’s life when you’re a part of a mentoring relationship. Mentoring is a relationship in which you share the wisdom you’ve gained in life with someone who’s yet to go through what you have. Mentoring is a relationship in which you share the wisdom you’ve gained in life with someone who’s yet to go through what you have.
Now there’s all types of mentoring you can engage in. You can mentor someone in athletics and the arts. You can mentor someone in just about any career field. You can mentor someone in relationship issues. I guess you could mentor someone in just about every arena of life. But today we’re going to be talking about how we as Christians can and should be mentoring people in the faith. [2] That’s the investment of a lifetime – mentoring your faith! That’s something that will make an eternal impact!
Now what I’d like to do is have everyone look around the sanctuary for a minute. There are so many different age groups represented here. And along with the differences in ages, there’s also people that are in different stages of their spiritual maturity level. And you know what, every person here still has questions about God and life and about how to match the two together. And guess what, many of you have the answers to each others questions simply because you’ve already been down that road. Mentoring is a relationship in which you share the wisdom you’ve gained in life with someone who’s yet to go through what you have.
Mentoring is something that can have an eternal affect on people because it helps them grow in their eternal faith. Listen to what Warren Weirseby says about the need for mentoring in today’s church’s:
"...In most churches, the congregation pays the pastor to preach, win the lost, and build up the saved - while the church members function as cheerleaders, (if they are enthusiastic), or simply spectators. The "converts" are won, baptized, and given the right hand of fellowship, then they join the other spectators. How much faster our churches would grow, and how much stronger and happier our church members would be, if each one were discipling/mentoring another believer. The only way a local church can "be fruitful and multiply" (instead of growing by "additions") is with a systematic discipleship program. This is the responsibility of every believer, and not just a small group who have been 'called to go.'
God wants to use each of us here to help someone else grow in their faith. We need to invest in the lives of each other and look for opportunities to be in a mentoring relationship. We all have something to offer.
[Have all kids, volunteer adults, write out questions about God/life/matching.]
Now this mentoring thing isn’t something new. It’s been an effective way of training and encouraging people for centuries. And we can clearly see the emphasis on mentoring in the book of Acts as we’ve been studying through it. We’re in Acts chapter eighteen this morning where we’ll see three principles for effective mentoring. [3] The first thing we see is that we should be mentoring faith through relationships.
Now remember what’s been going on in Paul’s life up to this point. He’s been traveling from town to town helping scores of people get saved and then he helps the people start up a church. He then moves on to another city and starts all over again. We’re at the point in the story where Paul’s been in the city of Corinth for a year and a half and it’s time for him to move on. Things have gone well, but there’s other people who need to hear the message.
[Read Acts 18:18-22.]
Paul had spent 18 months there in Corinth building relationships with the people and mentoring them in the faith. And remember, the pattern of the ancient church was to meet on a regular basis in each other’s homes for fellowship, teaching, worship and meals. To them, going to church was about worshipping God together in the context of relationships. That’s why the early church was so strong – they spent time investing into each other’s lives.
Paul especially invested into the lives of Priscilla and Aquilla whom he trusted to start the work in Ephesus without him. The Ephesians wanted Paul to stay longer with them, but he had to get home and he knew that Priscilla and Aquilla could handle things.
So Paul leaves Priscilla and Aquilla in Ephesus and goes back home to Antioch. Once he’s rested up there he heads back out on the road to check up on the churches he had started on his previous missions trip. In essence he’s continuing his mentoring relationship with the people he’d known for years.
[Read Acts 18:23.]
On Paul’s way back to Ephesus, he stops along the way to continue his mentoring relationships with the people he’d worked with years before. Relationships were the vehicle that Paul used to grow people in the faith.
Mentoring usually doesn’t happen outside of relationships. True mentoring happens within a relationship. The days of, “Sit down, shut up, and do what I say” are gone. If you want to mentor someone in the faith you have to have a loving, trusting, patient, real relationship with that person. Otherwise you’re just another know-it-all giving answers to questions that aren’t being asked. True mentoring happens within a relationship.
[DPBC mentoring teens who now mentor teens story.]
Relationships are the vehicles that carry the mentoring process forward. And once those relationships are in place, we can then share the wisdom we’ve gained in life with that person who hasn’t gone down that road yet. [4] We need to be mentoring faith through instruction. Let’s continue with the story.
Now, Paul is back home in Antioch, Priscilla and Aquilla are leading the work in Ephesus, and a new preacher comes to town.
[Read Acts 18:24-26.]
Now this is a fascinating passage. This Jewish believer in Jesus named Apollos came to town and was a great preacher. He was passionate, he knew the Old Testament scriptures backwards and forwards, and he was a skilled orator. Sometime in his life he was under the ministry of John the Baptist and through him came to understand that Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament promised would come. He had it all right – but there was so much more for him to learn.
When it says that he was “only acquainted with the baptism of John” that means that he probably hadn’t yet been taught about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and other things that Jesus Himself and the apostles had been teaching.
So Priscilla and Aquilla take this young preacher aside and mentor him in the faith. It says that “they explained to him the way of God more accurately”. He wasn’t wrong in what he was teaching, but they helped him take his knowledge of the Lord to the next level.
Now let’s notice some things about how they instructed him. First of all, I think they noticed what he was doing well. I know this book was written by Luke, but I’m sure that everyone could notice that Apollos was a gifted speaker and passionate disciple of Jesus. When you’re mentoring someone it helps if you notice and compliment them about what they are doing well.
Secondly, the passage says, “they took him aside” when they instructed him. They didn’t want to embarrass him publicly. They wanted to build him up. So in the context of a relationship, they privately instructed him in the deeper ways of God. Mentoring is a process between two people only. If you want your mentoring to be effective, keep it between the two of you.
And thirdly, it says they “they explained to him the way of God more accurately”. Their instruction for him was about the substance of his message, not in the way he used his gifts. This is so important! We don’t mentor people in an attempt to turn them into little mini-me’s. We don’t mentor people in an attempt to get them to synch up their pants, to listen to a different style of music, or do their hair more ‘appropriately’. All of those surface things don’t mean a thing if we don’t instruct people in God’s ways. When we mentor people we need to focus on God’s Word and His wisdom – not our preferences.
[Brother Jimmy mentoring me story.]
When mentoring people we need to be about instructing them in God’s ways.
But there will come a time in our mentoring relationships where we can see what God is doing in that other person’s life and so we empower them to be all they can be for the Lord. [5] We need to be mentoring faith through empowerment.
[Read Acts 18:27-28.]
Apollos thought he was ready, Priscilla and Aquilla thought he was ready, and they did everything they could to help him be a successful preacher back in Corinth. And you know what, he was! God used him in huge ways in Corinth and a big part of it was because the brethren empowered him to go.
It says they “encouraged” him and that they “wrote letters of recommendation” to the church that was over in Corinth. When you mentor someone you need to empower them to be all they can be for the Lord. Don’t just teach them how to serve God, give them a chance to actually do it!
[Teaching my kids how to drive/giving them the keys, story.]
Mentoring is a relationship in which you share the wisdom you’ve gained in life with someone who’s yet to go through what you have. And there comes a point in that relationship where you must empower them to take what they know and what they’ve learned and put it into practice! [6] Mentoring faith is the investment of a lifetime!
[Read questions.]
The people among you are asking these questions. And I’m sure that there are tons more questions out there waiting to be asked. Are you helping to answer them? Are you investing in someone else’s life?
Now we don’t have an official church mentoring program. We do have mentoring going on through various ministries, but there’s no official one-on-one discipleship program here yet. But that doesn’t let you off the hook. Start investing in someone’s life today.
So how do you get started? Well, here’s not what you do. “Hello. I am Tom and I am here to mentor you o’ foolish and immature one.” Don’t do that.
But there are two ways in which you can start mentoring people here at church:
1. Get involved in a discipleship ministry of some kind, (kids, youth, bible study)
2. Start building relationships with people other than your peer group and watch it happen on it’s own. (new Christian, young person, etc.)
[Pastor friend telling an older person, “You’re my mentor” story.]
Get involved in mentoring someone in the faith.
Now on the flip side, if you feel like you need and want to be mentored, it is appropriate to go to someone you know and ask them to mentor you. I tell you what, they would be so blessed and honored that you asked.
And if you just can’t muster up the courage to ask, then just start hanging around them. (They’ll get the message.) Look for someone who is spiritually where you want to be and build a relationship with them. All of us need someone to share their wisdom with us.
So again I ask you, Who are you investing in? And, who are you allowing to invest in you? Together, we can grow our faith, and better journey through life if we will intentionally invest in each other. [7]
[Stand, hold hand, pray together.]
