October 1, 2009 America is a land of rugged individualists. “Going it alone” is seen as a virtue. But not so in the church - the household of God - the Body of Christ. The
Christian life was never meant to be lived in
isolation. When we come
to Jesus we come to community. A
community patterned after the intimate relationship of
the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). That
community
relationship may seem strange to those around us. Sometimes
it even seems strange in the church.
But a
community we are. Someone has
said that a Christian without a church is an orphan. We are meant for each other. We
need
the community of the church. It has been
said that everyone needs three types of people in
their lives: Pacers - those who
go before us either living or dead (i.e. authors,
church leaders from
the past). Pacers mentor
and counsel us
from their life experiences as we follow them through
life. Racers - peers
that can look us in the eye and honestly tell us, “I know exactly what
you’re going through.”
Racers who will run with us - hanging in there
with us and (when needed) who will offer wise counsel.
Tracers - people
younger than us who can mentor us from the coming up
generation and
into whom we can pour our lives.
I greatly
appreciate hanging around our youth.
Not
only do I feel less geriatric. But,
I
learn tons about life. The Apostle
Paul put it this way: “As for you, my son,
be strong through the grace that is
ours in union with Christ Jesus.
Take the
teachings that you heard me proclaim in the presence
of many witnesses,
and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able
to teach others
also.” (2 Timothy
2:1,2) Do you see
the three groups? Paul
the Pacer. Timothy the
Racer. The
“reliable
people” are Tracers. A
community
of people who together are moving forward through life
with Jesus. Mentoring is
the process of pouring out the experience of our life
with Jesus into
the lives of others. It
is the process of
encouraging others to live life with Jesus as we have
learned to live
life with Jesus - to follow Jesus with us through
life. Moses talked
about mentoring when he warned parents of the dangers
of not mentoring. “Never forget these
commands that I am giving you today.
Teach them to your children.
Repeat them when you are at home and when you
are away,
when you are resting and when you are working. Tie
them
on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a
reminder. Write them on
the doorposts of your houses and
on your gates.” (Deuteronomy
6:6-9) How intense
is that? 24/7/365 parents
are called upon
to mentor. Everything
they are and have is
given to the essential role of mentoring. The
same
is true of the church. We
must mentor. Without
mentoring the church is one generation
away from disaster. To mentor is
not easy. It would be
easier to pursue
rugged individualism. Mentoring
involves
transparency - honesty about our failures, attitudes,
and success. Mentoring
means patience - hanging in there
with people who “just
don’t get it.” Mentoring
requires humility - stepping
back and
letting others excel where we’ve muddled along. In the
community of the church, good or bad, we’re all
mentors and we all need
mentoring. Let me
encourage you to not
hold yourself back from what God has designed to meet
your needs and
from the awesome opportunity of God using you in the
life of others. |