Sanctuary of Grace

Mentoring is presented in the Bible from many different viewpoints. In the Old Testament, mentoring was done through the school of the prophets. Older men of God passed on their walk with God to younger men who were equally gifted in proclaiming God's Word to His people. In the New Testament, mentoring is described as discipleship, where a more mature teacher [i.e., rabbi] passes on a lifestyle of godliness in light of God's Word which is led by an intimate walk with God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus challenged the stiff rote teaching of tradition by the religious rabbis of his day with a more informal and personal training that emulated the love of the Father for His Son. Instead of a mere intellectual passing on of information [which has its place in the church], Jesus passed on an intimate godly lifestyle to his disciples which influenced the world around him wherever he went.

Godly Lifestyles from One Generation to Another

This concept of passing on a godly lifestyle from one generation of healthy believers to another is our heart for people development at Sanctuary of Grace. In the New Testament we find this kind of healthy mentoring occuring in two ways. First, there was mentoring of the younger folks by godly elders who loved and cared for them. Older men and older women are encouraged to emulate Christ and pass his character on to younger generations before a watching world [2 Tim.1:5; Tit. 2:1-8].

Godly Leadership from One Generation to Another

Secondly, church leadership is developed through one faithful godly man mentoring others who will in turn mentor others in their intimate walk with Jesus Christ. This is seen in the apostle Paul's personal relationship with Timothy [2 Tim. 2:1-2], and his training of churches that the way of an apostle was to develop individuals in every church [Col. 1:28-29]. This is even taught by Peter, who taught younger men to humble themselves before the elder-shepherds who were raised up by God for shepherding in the church [1 Peter 5:1-9]. Younger men naturally want to prove themselves as "spiritual leaders" in the church. They are anxious to "make their mark in Jesus' name" and prove themselves. But they must become spiritual leaders supernaturally through humility before God as they learn to serve others and not themselves. Otherwise, they will fall into a snare of the devil through pride [1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; 1 Pet. 5:5-8].

Teachability in the Mentoring Role

One of the key issues surrounding mentoring issues is maturity developed over time in many areas. Since every Christian is called to greater maturity in the image of Jesus, the ability to humble one's self and receive from others is necessary. Self-sufficiency prevents us from growing as a child who is forced by their own lack of experience to humbly follow older generations until they "learn the ropes" of living life. Healthy mentors must develop themselves by being teachable before others more mature than themselves in various areas. This humble act of receiving from those more mature is a model to others less mature in itself.

Life-long learning is the nature of a healthy growing disciple of Jesus. If we are always conforming to the image of Jesus [Rom. 8:29-30], then continued transformation into His image requires an open mind, open heart, and open hand ready to receive new perspectives that will enhance and improve us to the glory of God. This requires that we remain teachable in every way God presents to us in our daily lives.

Godliness, not Theology, is God's Prime Directive in Christ

What we believe and why we believe it about God and everything related to Him is important. Therefore, theology is very important in the body of Christ. But Jesus taught how to come into the presence of His heavenly Father in every personal way - mind, emotion, and will - and not just through rational theological arguments based upon the good intentioned intellectual traditons of men [Matt. 15:2-6; Mar. 7:5-9].

We need more thinking Christians today - but not at the expense of godliness in the body of Christ. We need believers who are intelligent and desire to develop their thoughts around crucial issues important to the church and world of God in light of scripture. But the crux of the gospel is rooted in godliness through intimate personal relationships with the Father in Christ [1 Tim. 3:14-16]. We have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit that indwells us. Intimacy with God can only make us better thinkers over time. But theological arguments born out of personal spiritual pride are not of God and we reject these as expressions of Christian immaturity in the body that only cause divisions and debates [1 Tim. 3:6-3; 2 Tim. 3:5-9] .

Mentoring requires that godly men and women develop godly thinkers with mental maturity, godly feelers with emotional maturity, and godly doers with a volitional maturity that wants to serve to the glory of God in Christ.