When we become older we start pondering our spiritual heritage and faith in Jesus Christ, and we begin to wonder whether or not the succeeding generations will carry on what we have learned. So, we try to provide young people with exposure to our worship services, hoping that our values and worship practices will rub off on them; however, it can sometimes be difficult to effectively instill our values in another generation. Usually, when separate generations convene together, viewpoints tend to clash. In many churches you will see bitterness built up between young people and adults, leading to generational division.
There are a few examples in Scripture that lead us to conclude that it’s difficult to accomplish the task of ministering to other generations. For example, Acts 13:36 says, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay.” This verse implies that David was only able to effectively reach “his own generation.” There is another example found in the ministries of Moses and Joshua. Commentator Gary McIntosh, in reference to Joshua assuming command of Moses’ ministry, states, “Scripture records that it normally takes new leadership to communicate to new generations. Perhaps the best example in the Bible is that of Moses and Joshua. God selected Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but he used Joshua, not Moses, to reach a new generation in a new land.”(1)
It appears as though we are only able to effectively minister to our own generation, but we still see in the Bible where we’re supposed to try and reach other generations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, David said in Psalm 71:17-18, “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.” We can see from these verses that we are not exempt from sharing the love of Christ with the “next generation” and with “all who are to come.” We might not be as effective with another age group as with our own, but we still need to teach the ways of Jesus to the succeeding generations. So, how do we go about doing this task effectively?
One of the ways in which we can minister to succeeding generations effectively is through “mentoring.” So, what is mentoring? First of all, our word “mentor” comes from Homer’s great epic the Odyssey. In this story, “Mentor is a friend of Odysseus who undertakes the education of his son Telemachus.”(2) “Today the word depicts a wise and helpful friend, a teacher and leader who uses his or her experience to show others how best to walk life’s path, and to accomplish goals and meet life’s challenges.”(3) Simply put, mentoring is training up someone beneath us. This morning, we are going to look at a number of verses on the subject of mentoring, but our focal passages are Deuteronomy 1:37-38 and 2 Timothy 2:2. These passages will serve as the basis for mentoring. So, let’s get started by taking a brief look at the mentoring of Joshua, which is found in Deuteronomy 1:37-38:
The Mentoring of Joshua (Deuteronomy 1:37-38)
37 The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, “Even you shall not go in there; 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.”
In this passage, we are reminded of how Moses took Joshua under his wing as his assistant, and trained and encouraged him, because Joshua, not Moses, was the one who would minister to the next generation of Israelites. Moses himself could not enter the Promised Land, but his thoughts about God, and his experiences and ideas on ministry could, because he instilled them in another person whom he had trained for nearly forty years. Moses “mentored” Joshua, and he did so for quite some time before Joshua was even allowed to become leader. Now, not only do we see mentoring practiced in the Old Testament, but we see it utilized in the New Testament as well. Let’s now take a look at 2 Timothy 2:2, and see what Paul told his young apprentice Timothy:
The Mentoring of Timothy (2 Timothy 2:2)
2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
In Acts 16:2-3, we read that Timothy was well spoken of by the people of Lystra; therefore, Paul decided to take Timothy along with him as his companion and apprentice. Paul wanted to “mentor” Timothy. He wanted someone in whom he could confide, and who would “take the things heard from him,” as he stated, and then “commit them to other faithful men,” or pass them on to his own future apprentices who would one day be under his mentorship.
We can see some of Paul’s mentoring style demonstrated in 1 Timothy 4:12-16. In these verses Paul counseled Timothy to not let people look down on his youth. He also advised him to be diligent in studying the Scripture and doctrine, and to meditate on his teachings and give himself entirely to them. He told Timothy that this advice would lead him to longevity of life. Paul wanted to create a spiritual legacy of his knowledge of God and his experiences with missions that could be passed on to each succeeding generation and remembered throughout time. We can see that Paul considered mentoring to be a crucial part of his ministry and its effectiveness in the years to come.
Paul mentored elders and deacons, as well as Timothy, and he highly promoted mentoring among the leadership of his church plants. In fact, the mentoring of church leaders is found in numerous examples of the early New Testament churches. In 1 Peter 5:3, the apostle Peter charged, “be examples to the flock.” And in Acts 20, verses 18 and 35, Paul explained to the elders at Ephesus, “You know . . . in what manner I always lived among you” (v. 18). “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak” (v.35). In other words, Paul was telling the elders, “I showed you what to do, so now you need to show them.” I believe it can be rightly said that if a Christian leader is not mentoring someone, then he or she is not living up to his or her full calling.
Many times in his epistles Paul spelled out mentoring as his model of leadership. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, he said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ,” and in Philippians 4:9 he stated, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” In other words, he said, “Let me mentor you. Let me be your role model.” In 2 Thessalonians 3:7, Paul reminded the new Christians at Thessalonica to “follow our example” (NLT), and in verse 9, he said, “[We] made ourselves an example of how you should follow us.” In the verses we just examined, Paul used the words “imitate,” “learned,” and “example,” which are all facets of mentoring. Depending on the translation, the words that Paul used could also be rendered as “imitate,” “example,” and “follow.”
Let’s consider each of these words individually and try to understand their meanings in relation to mentoring. The word “imitate” is used of the profession of being a mimic or actor. Literally, Paul was saying that the believers mimicked the conduct of their spiritual guides and acted it out. The word “example” is a word defined as “an underwriting.” It was used of the process of tracing letters for copying. Biblical scribes were known in this way as they painstakingly traced every letter of the sacred text in order to provide an accurate copy. Paul concludes that the believers were taking that kind of care in tracing the lives of their mentors. The word “model” can be translated “resemblance.” Indeed, Paul concluded that the believers were a stamp or print of their spiritual guides.(4)
Some Final Thoughts on Mentoring
I believe we can see from these verses that mentoring is an extremely important task for Christians who wish to pass on their spiritual heritage to the next generation. “A distinguished performing career virtuoso violinist, Jascha Heifetz, accepted an appointment as a professor of music at UCLA. When asked what had prompted his change of career, Heifetz replied, ‘Violin playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on as a personal skill; otherwise it is lost.’ We need to listen to this great musician. Living the Christian life is a highly personal experience. We can’t pull it off by merely watching skilled veterans ‘perform.’ We need hands-on instruction.”(5)
As Christians, we need to develop a desire to mentor younger Christians. Howard Hendricks revealed his desire to mentor when he said, “I want to prepare a person to become better than I am.”(6) This reminds me of what Jesus told His disciples in John 14:12: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” That the succeeding generations accomplish greater works should be our desire as well. We need to find some young people in whom we can confide and train them up in the ways of the Lord in a one-on-one fashion; and then when the time comes, we need to bless them and release them for service in the kingdom.
Blessing is a very important and vital aspect of mentoring, for it causes the apprentice to not only cherish his or her instruction, but it empowers him or her for ministry and leadership within the church. In Deuteronomy 34:9, we see that Moses blessed and released Joshua for ministry. This verse says, “Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.” It was after Joshua was blessed through the “laying on of hands,” that the people listened to him and that he had the confidence to perform his ministry without wavering.
Sunday school classes and church services are important and effective, but mentoring is even more effective. Why? Because mentoring is more personal than these other forms of teaching. You have probably heard it said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” This is as true when we are trying to pass on our spiritual heritage, as in any other realm. Mentoring shows someone that you really care about him or her as a person, because you are taking the time to get to know the individual closely, and you are sacrificing your own time and desires to benefit another human being.
So, how can we begin mentoring an individual spiritually? How do we get started? One way is to “adopt a youth.” Women, you could adopt a young lady; and men, you could adopt a young man. You could schedule some time with your young person once a week, or once a month, in which you have lunch together and talk about life and hash things out. Or perhaps the women could have a ladies night out and take their young person shopping, and the guys could take their young person fishing or hiking. This will build a relationship with a young person; and in your times together, you will be able to have discussions about your faith as well. There are bound to be numerous other possibilities for reaching out to a young person and mentoring them. We just have to decide that it’s worth our investment of time and then do something about it.
Time of Reflection
A word to older church members: Have you ever felt that you can’t communicate with the youth or that there is a barrier between you and our young people? Well there probably is a barrier, because you haven’t done what it takes to show that you really care. If you are truly serious when you say that you are concerned about whether or not the next generation will keep your faith and values, then do something about it. Seek out a relationship with one or two youth and make an investment in their lives. When you invest in people’s lives, then when you die and go to be with the Lord, you will have left behind an extremely valuable legacy. You will have passed on your spiritual knowledge and wisdom.
Now, a word to the younger church members: Do not assume that adults don’t care about you. Have patience with them, for they really do care. They just don’t know how to relate that well. That’s because there is an age gap to overcome and they’re not familiar with the latest trends, music, fashion or expressions. If an older person tries to speak to you or befriend you, then give them a chance. Hey, they might just be looking for some excitement and you could be the one to show it to them! I remember a youth conference years ago that ended with a dance. One of the chaperones named Frank, who was in his late sixties, got down and boogied with the kids! That was the highlight of his decade!
Mentoring is such an important task for Christians, because we have the greatest legacy in the world to pass down to the following generations; the legacy of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In fact, in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands us to share the gospel with as many people as we can find and to teach them; and teaching is what mentoring is all about. Since Jesus commands us to tell people about salvation in Christ, then that’s how I’m going to close this message.
The Bible tells us that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That word “sin” simply means missing the mark. We have all missed the mark with God. We have all done things that displease the Lord; and missing the mark with God means that we are separated from Him. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” This separation will last for eternity, unless we get our lives right with God.
Eternal separation from God is called spiritual death or “the second death.” Revelation 21:8 says, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” The first death is when our body ceases to function; the second death is spending eternity in hell; but that does not have to be our fate. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The gift of God is His Son, whom He gave to take our place in death by dying on the cross. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus took the punishment for our sins on Himself as He went to the cross; and if we will believe in what He did for us, and confess our belief before others, then we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). I invite you to come on confess Jesus as Savior and Lord today.
NOTES
(1) Gary McIntosh, Three Generations, p. 18.
(2) Kenneth O. Gangel, Team Leadership in Christian Ministry (Chicago: Moody Press, 1997), p. 257.
(3) Ibid., p. 257.
(4) American Missionary Fellowship, “Living A Godly Life,” taken from the Internet April 2003 at http://www.americanmissionary.org/wm.shtml.
(5) Illustration Database, taken from the Internet April 2003 at http://www. bible.org/illus/illustoc.htm.
(6) Raymond McHenry, McHenry’s Stories for the Soul (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2001), p. 181.
