mentoring

At our elder's breakfast the other day, I encouraged each man there to mentor someone in our church.

By that I mean praying about another man in the church in which they can pour their life to as a mature follower of Christ.

I asked them to do the following:

Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to a man in the church that needs spiritual coaching.

Ask that person if they are open to receiving mentoring.

Touch base with the a couple of times a month.

Establish some kind of accountability with them. Ask them accountability questions, whether it be verbal or email.

Pray with them on an as needed basis.

Be available to them, especially during times of crisis.

I shared with the elders that I am not really interested in starting a ministry at this point of "how to coach" other men - but that we "just do it" and begin to reach out to those around us.

I believe in mentoring. I believe in accountability.

I believe that every man should seek to have three individuals in his life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy.

A Paul is an older man who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life. Not someone who's smarter or more gifted than you, but somebody who's been down the road. Somebody willing to share his strengths and weaknesses--everything he's learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you'll want to imitate.

A Barnabas is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who's willing to keep you honest, who's willing to say, "Hey, man, you're neglecting your wife, and don't give me any guff!"

A Timothy is a younger man into whose life you are building. For a model, read 1 and 2 Timothy. Here was Paul, the quintessential mentor, building into the life of his protege--affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, praying.

Do you have these three guys in your life? Are you mentoring someone?

If you are interested in this, please feel free to email me.