MentorNet #23
Applications of Christian Mentoring
Copyright © 2004 by George Patterson and Galen Currah
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1. Christians mentor others for non-pastoral purposes. Many Christian coaches, teachers, caring neighbors and business associates let their light shine for Christ by giving loving attention and guidance in non-religious areas of life.
2. Others make disciples of new believers and their families, establishing the foundations of obedience and faith.
3. Parents train their children by example to pray daily and to feed on God’s Word.
4. Some counsel persons and families that have problems. This type of mentoring is often called ‘member care’.
5. More-experienced Christian workers apprentice less-experienced ones for church ministries, such as helping believers to do better counseling, to witness for Christ, to training others, and to implement mercy ministries.
6. Shepherds and missionaries apprentice novice leaders, including shepherding elders (pastors), church planters and other types of missionaries, by training them the way Jesus and His apostles did so in the New Testament. For example, a pastor of a mother church may coach a less-experienced pastor in a daughter church.
Moses mentored
Joshua and the elders of
Joshua mentored the other army leaders.
God originally gave the Ten Commandments for the use of newly-named elders. These included leaders of 10, of 50, of 100 and of 1000. The shepherding of the people occurred mostly in small groups of ten (Exodus 18–20).
Deborah mentored Barak.
Eli mentored Samuel
Samuel mentored
Saul and David who became
Ahithophel and Nathan the prophet also mentored David.
David mentored
his army commanders and government officials, to establish the united nation
of
Solomon mentored the Queen of Sheba, who returned to her people with his wisdom in the form of Proverbs that applied God’s law.
Elijah mentored Elisha.
Elisha mentored king Jehoash and others.
Daniel mentored Nebuchadnezzar, who humbled himself before God.
Mordecai mentored Esther
Esther mentored King Artaxerxes, which resulted in liberating God’s people.
Jesus mentored the twelve apostles who established the Christian church.
The twelve mentored hundreds of other leaders, including Paul.
Paul mentored Titus, Timothy and many others (2 Timothy 2:2).
Timothy mentored "faithful men" such as Epapharas.
Epaphras
and the other faithful men mentored "others also” which led
to a chain reaction that resulted in dozens of new churches in
Philip mentored the Ethiopian official who received Christ and was baptized in the desert.
Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, for a much improved ministry.
In most ministries across most nations, it is far wiser for you to mentor novice leaders on the job, to meet the needs of new cells and congregations, than it would be to send them away to Bible school or seminary to learn an analytical, lecture method of education with a lot of theory.
Such graduates may consider themselves to be professionals and expect to be given congregations that can support the life style of a professional. Likewise, they often cause their congregations to stagnate. After months or years of practical service, some mentored leaders may benefit from more formal education, especially if they must communicate with more highly educated people in urban communities. The authors of MentorNet teach in both arenas, making a clear distinction of where and when to apply both.
We urge you to consider prayerfully the potential value of various applications of mentoring for your church or organization, keeping in mind that the final purpose for which God inspired Scripture was not simply to inform us but that God’s people may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
To
find mentoring tools and sites, visit <http://www.MentorAndMultiply.com>.
For information on Train & Multiply® write George Patterson <GPatterson@MentorNet.ws>.
For information on how to obtain, T&M®, visit <http://www.TrainAndMultiply.com>.
To obtain free, reproducible training materials, visit <http://www.Paul-Timothy.net>.
To download or purchase “Come, Let Us Disciple the Nations” (CD-ROM),
visit <http://www.AcquireWisdom.com>.
Order Church Multiplication Guide from a bookshop or <http://www.WCLbooks.com>.
To view or download earlier MentorNet messages, visit <http://www.MentorNet.ws>.