Make Your Investment Count- Finding Faithful Men

In the early 80s, while in seminary, I had the great privilege of serving at a church in Kennedale, Texas near Ft. Worth. I served as Associate Pastor of Youth and Discipleship. It was a great place to learn and grow by not only doing ministry but by putting into practice what I was learning in seminary.

One of the highlights of my time of ministry there was the opportunity to learn from and to be mentored by the Senior Pastor, Earnest Wall. Brother Earnest had been called to vocational ministry later in life and had spent many years in the marketplace as a small business owner. One of the greatest lessons that I learned from Brother Wall was to see the potential in people to see them not for who they are but to see them for what they could become as they grow spiritually.

As we invest in emerging leaders, we must embrace that same mindset seeing the potential in men as they grow in their faith and surrender to the Lordship of Christ.

Because we have a limited amount of time to invest in emerging leaders we must select the right men to walk with. Before we select these men, let me encourage you to spend much time in prayer to discern God’s will. In Luke chapter 6, the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus spent all night in prayer before selecting His apostles. If the Son of God spent all night in prayer before selecting twelve men He would invest in, shouldn’t we?

According to 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul instructs Timothy to invest in “faithful men” or men of FAITH. These are the kind of men we should be investing in. Men who are faithful, available, intentional about spiritual growth, teachable, and hungry for God.

Faithful

If we want our investment to count, we must mentor and disciple emerging leaders who have demonstrated faithfulness. By definition someone who is faithful is one who is committed to someone or something, further, it’s the idea of being loyal and “following through” with what you have committed to do.

Faithful men not only talk a good game, but they demonstrate their faithfulness by their manner of life.

Several years ago I had the privilege of serving a small church in South Louisiana. While serving there I had the privilege of leading a young man to faith in Christ named Mardy. Mardy worked out in the oil field and was recovering from an injury requiring surgery. During his time of recovery, I had the opportunity to disciple him.

When we began to meet together in discipleship, I explained to Mardy that over the time of our meeting we would memorize several verses of Scripture. Recollecting, I believe it was twenty-six verses of Scripture to be memorized over a three month period. Well, the next week I called him to make sure we could meet at the appointed time and before we hung up Mardy told me that he memorized all twenty-six verses. I thought to myself, “you didn’t memorize all those verses in a week.” So I began to quiz him and sure enough, he not only memorized every verse, but he got them word perfect.

In the weeks ahead, Mardy demonstrated a faithfulness to God, His Word, his family, and serving at church.

As Mardy and I walked together, it became obvious that God had a calling on his life. During that season in my ministry, I had the opportunity to travel and preach all over South Louisiana, Mardy would accompany me and share his testimony about the difference Jesus made in his life. Before long, Mardy began to work with the students at his church and then was called to pastor a church in South Louisiana. 25 years later, Pastor Mardy Guidry is the pastor of the Fellowship Baptist Church in Denham Springs, Louisiana.