One of the brillant moves of the Apostle Paul was the mentoring and adoption of a young Timothy (Philippians 2:29). Paul echoes the move of the great Elijah who took his mantle, his own coat of expereience, and passed it on to a young Elisha (1 Kings 19:19). These mentoring men passed on the faith God developed in them to a new generation.
I was fortunate to be a young Timothy or Elisha. Throughout my years of faith there have been men and women that shared their faith experience with me. Some were pastors; some were the anointed; some shared without knowing. All helped shape me and guide me as a follower of Jesus. One relationship that stood out was that of my mentor and friend Jim Wilson. Jim adopted me as a young college student beginning the exploration into a life of ministry. He quickly took a green, raw, mess and said you need to be up front leading worship, getting practice, and learning in the process. I had not even entered a seminary! Getting that experience was crucial in my faith and pastoral development. Our mentoring became one of great trust where we could share openly with one another while always supporting one another publically to the congregation.
This I beleive was the key to the relationship. One-on-one our mentor-mentee relationship had the gorunded trust in Jesus Christ that allowed for a gracious level of accountability. We could wrestle with issues, theology, and life. We could question one another; yet, in front of the congregation Jim was the senior pastor, I was the youth/assistant pastor (who occaisonally cleaned toilets). Publically he was my superior, personally he was my mentor and friend.
Craig Groeschel called the crowd at Catalyst to work together as the generations. The older and past generation of leaders is that great cloud of witnesses that has made possible what I can do today. I (we) need our elders! I need their experience. I need their wisdom. Psalm 71:18 says
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
For this, my brothers and sisters of the younger generation, we need to honor our elders. Give them their due respect as ones who ran the race and are still running!
Additionally, while the institutional church uses mentors for the officail purpose of guiding candidates through the Candidacy, I would encourage my collegues in ministry to go above and beyond the official mentoring. The next generation needs its elders to adopt some new young Timothys.
Share your mentoring experiences in the comments below. Give a shout out to your Paul or Elijah.