Mentoring Emerging Leaders
One of the greatest privileges someone can have is to disciple or mentor emerging leaders who feel they’ve been called to vocational ministry. And yet, few pastors and church leaders take advantage of that wonderful opportunity.
When people share that God is dealing with them about a call to vocational ministry, we normally say to ourselves, “These individuals are feeling called to ministry, so I’ll send them off to seminary.” This is unfortunate because according to Barna Research, only 17 percent of evangelicals have had a godly mentor in their lives.[1] This thinking is neither biblical nor practical.
I have a strong conviction that it is the responsibility of leaders in the local church to disciple and mentor those called to vocational ministry. After they have affirmed God’s calling, they can then go to seminary for specialized training, but higher education should not replace the valuable relationship between a mentor and a mentee.
So many practical things can be experienced by emerging leaders in the local church as they are discipled and mentored by their local church leaders. This is invaluable preparation and training that you can’t reproduce in a classroom setting.
A mentor, by definition, is a trusted counselor, a guide, a tutor, or a coach. I’m so thankful that over the years, God has placed mentors in my life and has given me the great privilege of investing in scores of emerging leaders.[2]
Here are several qualities of a godly mentor:
Model Godly Behavior
The greatest gift you could give to emerging leaders in the church, especially to those who may be called to vocational ministry, is to live a godly life before them.
Peter told fellow elders and shepherds to be godly examples in 1 Peter 5:2–4: “Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will; not for the money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
Paul admonished the church at Philippi to follow his example: “Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).
You must begin by modeling a godly life before your disciples. They are looking for someone to give them [3] direction and to model what a godly man or woman looks like in everyday life. They’re looking for someone who can flesh out the faith by applying scriptural principles to real-life situations.
This is especially true when things aren’t going well. How we react in times of crisis and in difficult situations reveals our true characters. Do you respond by getting anxious and falling apart, or do you respond by trusting and depending on God?
While we were traveling across Texas to Mexico for a collegiate mission trip, our van broke down. Because it was a holiday weekend, we had a small window of time to act in securing transportation for part of our group. Rather than falling apart and thinking the trip was over, our student leaders asked the group to pray, secured a rental van, and had us on our way in a short time. They modeled what trusting God in the midst of a difficult situation looked like and taught our students more in their godly response than we could have taught them in a year of Bible studies.
Next week we will examine how we should encourage and affirm and praying for those we mentor.
1. Barna Research, https://www.barna.com/research/new-research-on-the-state-of-discipleship/. Accessed online, January 11, 2017.
2. Definition of “mentor” from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor. Accessed online, January 11, 2017.
3. This has been added to clarify whether the disciples are looking to give someone direction or for someone to give them direction.
