4 SUPERCHARGED REASONS MENTORING MATTERS
INTRODUCTION
Why does mentoring matter?
The life-to-life exchange of mentoring encourages at least two people in their spiritual leadership, emotional maturity, and personal development – and can be a life changing experience for both the mentor and the mentee.
In other words, mentoring can be an incredibly enriching, satisfying, and joyful experience that forms lifetime friendships.
When we get to watch our peers grow into disciples of Christ, and also potentially learn skills or habits that will grow over a lifetime, we are enriched as we channel our energies toward seeing another succeed.
Why is mentoring so important to the church? Here are four supercharged reasons that mentoring matters – for all of us. These are in no particular order, so read them as one big idea.
1. The Body Needs Diversity
2. The Culture Needs Impact
3. Jesus Commands It
4. Together > Alone
1ST REASON – THE BODY NEEDS DIVERSITY
The Body needs diversity.
Diversity is a buzz word in the culture right now. Here’s what I mean by this statement.
The Body of Christ needs diversity in its leadership. If we don’t mentor and develop women and men who have different personalities and perspectives, or who are from a different generation or ethnic background than we are, then we are only gifting the Body of Christ with… ourselves.
Really, enough of that. Let’s make some good choices to grow the church. From the optics on stage at any given church, it seems that many leaders think that giving everyone more people who are just like them is the goal!
The reality is that there is Kingdom greatness everywhere.
Sure, people naturally connect with people with whom they identify, which both helps and hinders us. If we’re willing to mentor and develop diverse leaders in our community, other people will have the opportunity to connect with the God who loves them by connecting with a leader with whom they connect – be it someone their age, someone of their gender, or someone of their ethnic background.
(Note: I’m a strong advocate of mentoring worship leaders of the opposite gender in group settings, then adding in public coaching opportunities.)
We want to be gateways to people connecting with God, not walls.
2ND REASON – THE CULTURE NEEDS IMPACT
The culture needs impact.
The culture desperately needs us to mentor people who can reach into the increasingly diverse communities of which we are a part.
Every individual has a unique personality, way of thinking, personal history, upbringing, and journey with God.
Mentoring other leaders creates a new web of relationships for seeding the Gospel into the world around us.
These people are a unique linking point to others in the community who connect uniquely with them.
If we want to reach our communities, we must mentor others who reach a different demographic than we ever will.
3RD REASON – JESUS COMMANDS IT
Jesus commands it.
Our goal is not to mentor out of obligation or duty, but rather out of consecration to Christ.
We can do things out of duty, and train ourselves to love what God loves, but it’s so much more meaningful to mentor out of devotion to the cause of Christ and the need of the world – out of an overflow of our love for God. Christ’s love, as Paul said, can compel us to mentor others (2 Cor. 5:14).
To develop others, to reach others, and to train them up as disciples is the way of Jesus.
To take this further, in Matt. 28:19-20, Jesus said: “Go and make disciples.”
He commanded this not only for the good of those who would become disciples, but also for the good of the Body of Christ. He commanded it so that we would get outside of ourselves, understand the essence of leadership, learn compassion, and understand what it means to love like He loves.
Mentoring allows us to see people succeed and to celebrate with them, as God does. We also get to see people stumble and fall, like we do. Then, we reach out with grace and lift them back up, carrying them – maybe limping – into the next phase of their spiritual journey.
We want to become like Christ, and he said to make disciples. So we follow His lead.
4TH REASON – TOGETHER > ALONE
Together > Alone.
Doing things together, in the long run, will always be greater than doing things alone. Myriad personal happiness and fulfillment studies point to the quality of our closest relationships as the key to lasting joy and even longevity of life.
And it’s more fulfilling to travel and succeed together – with family, with community, with friends, and with those with whom you have a mutual investment in one anothers’ lives.
We celebrate community and mentoring because they amplify the truth that growing with others is always sweeter in the long run.
And for the introverts among us, while we may need more alone time to distill (and even accomplish tasks), we still need support in times of need – or someone to celebrate with when we have quiet successes along our journey.
We all need to connect with others.
ACTION STEPS
Try bringing at least one idea into your community.
- The body of Christ needs diversity, so we need to mentor others who are not like us.
- The culture needs impact, and the world is waiting for those gateways to connect them into the living worship of God. We see this in worship leaders all the time – people uniquely connect with unique personalities.
- Jesus invites us to enjoy mentoring and discipleship as we partner with Him in the spiritual formation of another. And, finally, it is much more fun and fulfilling to do life together than it is to take this wild and challenging journey alone.
- Together will always greater than alone in the long run.
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