MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION LEADERS

MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION LEADERS

(2 TIMOTHY 2:2)

Presented during the Workers’ Retreat of Hope Baptist Conference in  January  2022.

By

Rev. T. R. Miller (08037718335; 08141631469)

Pastor, First Baptist Church, Calabar

revrt.miller@yahoo.com; revrandymiller66@gmail.com

Preamble

The traditional old paradigm and “classical” understanding of mentoring involves a relationship between a younger, less experienced person and an older, more experienced person in which the older wisely guides the younger through some significant transition in life. The older family members teach the younger ones not only certain skills and trades, values, traditions, and culture of the people but also intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical and social truths and skills to the next generation. This is preparing the young person to be able to make a living for himself and, in time, for a family. Spiritual growth does not happen in a vacuum. Leaders are key in making this possible. This makes Spiritual mentorship within the Christian fold and especially in leadership very essential if we will indeed make impact in the next generation of leaders. The Conference in this year’s workers retreat will consider mentoring the next generation leaders.

The word “mentor” has its origin around 122 BC in the account of the Odyssey, written by the Greek poet Homer. In this story, Odysseus, or Ulysses as it is translated in the Latin, was in the throes of preparing to fight in the Trojan War. Odysseus realized that his only son, Telemachus, being of a tender age, was not ready to assume the responsibility as king of the kingdom. So he called in a trusted, wise, family friend named Mentor to be his son’s guardian. Not knowing how long he was going to be away from the kingdom, he instructed Mentor to prepare and educate Telemachus in the rudiments of what he would need in order to take on the role as king in case his father did not return from the war. The Mentor’s responsibility was thus to oversee the development of the young Telemachus toward a specific goal; that of learning how to become and behave like a king.  

Understanding Some Words: For clearer understanding, some words need to be considered

1. Mentoring: Traditionally, it is the process of investing oneself into someone else to enable him or her to realize the fullest potential and thus live with purpose and satisfaction.

It is also, a relational process between mentor, who knows or has experienced something and transfers that something (resources of wisdom, information, experience, confidence, insight, relationships status, etc.) to a mentee, at an appropriate time and manner, so that it facilitates development or empowerment.

Spiritual Mentoring involves “a relational experience in which one person empowers another by sharing God-given resources.” What is implied here is the sharing of God-given knowledge on one hand, the other is living as well as modelling the life upon sound and credible values.   

• Mentor: This is “someone who has been there before to lead a novice through the experiences of life, providing the guidance and expertise to help him or her safely navigate.”

Mentors are “skilled people who go out of their way to help you clarify your personal goals and then take steps toward reaching them. They have power—through who and what they know—to promote your welfare.

•   Leadership:  “Leadership is influence, the ability of one to influence others”        It is moving people on to God’s agenda”. The central task of leadership is

influencing God’s people toward God’s purposes”.

• A Christian leader is someone who is called by God to lead with and through Christ like character, and demonstrates the functional competences that permit effective leadership to take place”.

“He is one who is passionate about God’s work and willing to lead others in fulfilling his kingdom here on earth”. The direction is towards God and people.

The Need to Mentor the Next Generation Leaders – (2 Timothy 2: 2) 

1. Help Build Leaders with Spiritual Maturity:  Spiritual mentors are by definition to help others develop a solid pattern of spiritual discipline in their lives which helps deepen their personal relationship with God, help them to grow in the image of Christ, and prepare them to become most usable for the kingdom.  This activity includes formal and informal Bible study, directed reading, training in the Christian disciplines (quiet time, bible reading, prayer, etc.), helping to determine spiritual gifts and ministry direction.    (Paul Phil 3:13). Immature Christians can be susceptible to “trickery of men” and “craftiness in deceitful scheming.” In the world, there are many teachings that appear true, only to fall short of God’s Word. There is a sea of ideas where “every wind of doctrine” blows in all directions as we could be “tossed here and there by waves.” The mentor ultimately must understand that he shall be accountable of the soul of the young minister God committed unto him for nurturing.

2. Help Leaders to Develop and Achieve Reasonable Focus and Goals: Mentors provide valuable advice and objective input as personal and spiritual goals are thought through and established.  Once established, mentors can then help to monitor, suggest adjustments, and counsel along the way as needed.  The real benefit in these areas is helping to ensure that the balance of personal and spiritual goals are appropriate, e.g. keeping God as the central focus and priority, ensuring that the mentees spiritual growth pattern is not disrupted by other pursuits. (Example is Paul and Timothy 1 & 2 Timothy)
3. Develop Leaders with a Sense of Accountability:  Today’s cultural environment provides many land mines and diversions.  It is not difficult for the enemy to attempt to derail someone who earnestly desires to deepen their relationship with God.  Consequently having a mentor accountability partner is of great benefit. (Examples are Samuel and Saul in 1 Sam. 9-15)
4. Develop Leaders who will have the Opportunity to Give Back: Yes, changed lives draw others to themselves as they see the Spirit of God at work and will establish the groundwork for the mentee to potentially become a mentor to others as God leads.  God’s great commission for our lives is to make disciples.   Becoming a mentor is a response to this command and the benefit to others cannot be measured in human terms, only from an eternity perspective.   The true opportunity to give back and invest in the kingdom is the investing in the lives of others.  (Matt 28:19)
5. Develop Leaders who will be able to Deal with the Complexity of Society:  As twenty-first century life has become more complex and technology becomes more integral to our lives, we seem to have dispensed with the simple life and adopt more complex forms. In same manner, the next generation will be more complex. The urbanization of towns and villages into cosmopolitan centers producing families with absent father figures in the homes and society at large that has left many male children without a model of ideal manhood. The growing nature of the Church with its different ministries that tries to keep every member busy with one activity or the other.

The internet today, presents the world as a global village enabling a connect to each other from different parts of the world. Also, it provides all sorts of information for interaction by individuals. Where Pastors do not possess a critical mind and guided to filter the information at their disposal, such information can become harmful.   

Biblical Examples of Mentorship: Both the Old and New Testament provides good examples of the mentoring relationship. In each of the examples, what stands prominent is relationship.

Old Testament: Some example we can quickly give are;

1. Abram and Lot (Gen 11:27-13:1-18)

It could be argued that one of the earliest forms of a guiding, empowering and instructional relationship has to be that of Abram and his nephew Lot. Abraham not only nurtured Lot physically and emotionally, but passed on his business knowledge, wisdom, wealth, and prosperity to the young man. In this way, he poured and invested of himself into young Lot.  Because of the prosperity which Lot enjoyed, it could also be argued that Abram passed onto Lot some of the blessings which God had poured on him and his family (Gen 13:5). The evidence of a healthy mentoring relationship becomes evident as we see the self-confident Lot making the choice to go away from his uncle to begin a life on his own- albeit his choice to select what appeared to him to be the better part of the plains of Jordan; he chose and left Abraham and settled in the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah.

• Moses and Jethro: (Exodus 18). Moses found himself in a difficult position. Having delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses now took on sole responsibility for passing judgment over the disputes of almost two million people. Fortunately, Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, saw the disastrous potential of such an endeavor and intervened. He taught Moses the principle of delegation by encouraging him to choose trustworthy men who could serve under his authority as area judges over all but the most difficult disputes (Exod. 18:13-27). Jethro showed genuine concern, counselled Moses as his confidant and teaching him of the detail things to do.
• Eli and Samuel: In the book of 1 Samuel, the aging priest Eli served as a mentor to the young boy, Samuel. Though not an altogether positive example, their relationship still demonstrates important elements of the mentoring relationship. That Samuel “ministered under” Eli implies a formal apprenticeship, the most intense type of mentoring. Samuel lived with Eli (1 Sam. 1:21). Samuel worked daily at Eli’s side (1 Sam. 2:11; 3:1). Finally, under Eli’s guidance, Samuel learned to recognize the voice of God (1 Sam. 3:2-10). 
• Elijah and Elisha:

Elijah and Elisha serve as one of the most moving examples of a mentoring relationship in the Old Testament. Under God’s guidance, Elijah sought out Elisha and took him on as an attendant. The purpose was not to recruit an assistant but to raise up a successor (1 Kings 19:15-21). During Elijah’s last days, Elisha was always by his side. The biblical account characterizes the relationship between the two men as one of great loyalty (2 Kings 2:2-6) and deep love (2 Kings 2:11-12). Elijah displayed great concern for Elisha’s future well-being when his final words centered on assessing Elisha’s needs and counseling him regarding those needs (2 Kings 2:9-10). Finally, the success of Elijah’s tutoring is apparent when Elisha takes up Elijah’s robe and his mantle as prophet with the full acceptance of the people (2 Kings 2:13-15).

• Naomi and Ruth

Naomi and Ruth is a classic example of woman-woman mentoring. The commitment that Ruth showed toward her mother-in-law is a rare quality today, but one that should be evident among Christian women living in the twenty-first century. This quality of undeviating loyalty is evident in Ruth’s well known statement made to Naomi when she uttered those memorable words: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.

May the Lord deal with me, be it every so severely if anything but death separates you and me (Ruth 1:16-18 NIV). Naomi evidently must have had a close relationship with Ruth in regard to the cultural ways and religious traditions of her faith, so close that it could be said that Naomi “rubbed off” on Ruth, so much so that she could make the kind of statement that nothing but death could separate her from Naomi.

New Testament: In the New Testament we shall consider the mentor per excellent who is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ mentored people through discipling. First he called few and concentrated on developing them. Jesus ultimately chose twelve men to be his disciples (Matt. 10:1-4; Mark 3:14-19). The Greek meaning of the word “disciple” is “pupil or learner”. Jesus devoted the majority of his time with the twelve “pupils” who observed their teacher in a variety of settings. Of the twelve, Jesus had an even more intimate relationship with an “inner circle” of three: Peter, James, and John (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).

Second, Jesus trained his disciples in an informal setting through shared life experiences. Mark says that Jesus called the twelve to “be with him” (Mark 3:14). To John and Andrew, he said, “Come and see” (John 1:39). Philip’s call was to “follow me” (John 1:43). In each case, Jesus was clearly calling his disciples to leave their old lives behind and begin a new life with him. Following Jesus was a daily experience in the informal classroom of life.

Third, when the time was right, Jesus gave his disciples the opportunity to practice what they were learning. One excellent example occurs in Matthew 10. Having been deeply moved by the sight of so many who were lost, Jesus called together his disciples and gave them authority to preach the gospel, to heal the sick, and to cast out demons. Significantly, Jesus had already modelled each of these elements many times before delegating them to His disciples. Fourth, Jesus carefully supervised the work of his disciples. In Mark’s account of the disciples’ first mission, they returned to find Jesus waiting to hear about “all that they had heard and taught” (Mark 6:30). Thus, Jesus appears to have used a training strategy that alternated back and forth between teaching and application. Finally, Jesus empowered his disciples for a ministry of their own. Though Jesus fulfilled his promise to send a “counselor”—the Holy Spirit—to remain with them, he nevertheless departed physically and released his disciples to carry on his mission. Jesus said his departure would result in even “greater works” by his disciples (John 14:12).

From the Text 2 Timothy 2:2: The example of  Paul and Timothy reveals three major aspect of the mentor;

1. Role Model. Shannon and Anderson speak of modelling as both a mentoring role and activity (under the function of a teacher). This dual nature of modelling reflects the comprehensive nature of the mentoring relationship. An effective mentor will often intentionally model certain skills or behaviors in order to demonstrate them for the protégé or mentee. In a more fundamental sense, however, the mentor is the model as he or she “embodies a way of life by word, action, and presence”.

This role of serving as a model for the protégé or mentee is best demonstrated in the life of

Jesus. When the time came for him to make disciples, he did not convene an isolated classroom for discussions on philosophy or religious doctrines. The classroom was life, and the teacher was “the Truth.”  expounds,  Jesus did not say, “I will speak true words to you” or “I will tell you about truth”; he claimed to embody truth in his person. To those who wished to know truth, Jesus did not offer propositions to be tested by logic or data to be tested in the laboratory. He offered himself and his life. Those who sought truth were invited into relationship with him.

Another aspect is the dynamic of attraction in mentoring relationships. For the protégé, the attraction lies in the fact that the mentor embodies certain qualities desired by the protégé. Those qualities may involve such things as the mentor’s character, values, wisdom, skills, influence, or knowledge. Simply by being in the presence of the mentor, the protégé is able to observe those qualities for later reflection. This process can be likened to the old practice of apprenticeship, “one person looking over the shoulders of another”. 

• Nurturer.

Drawing on the metaphor of gardening, The nurturing role is in three ways: (1) cultivating an environment for growth, (2) stimulating growth according to the total personality of the mentee, and (3) believing in the mentee’s potential to reach full maturity. As a nurturer, then, the mentor is responsible for facilitating the full growth and development of the mentee. 

1. Cultivating an Environment for Growth: This involves “creating a safe space for discovery”. The mentor in doing this, removes the key impediments to growth by encouraging authenticity and vulnerability. Boundaries, in the form of such things as time limitations and confidentiality, provide security by defining the limits of the relationship. Hospitality involves receiving one another in a spirit of deep acceptance. The description is like the mentor is a guarantor who guarantees a caring and accepting environment; relationship that is trustworthy; feelings, ideas, or questions that are valid; affirmed for growth; opportunities for discovering our gifts and abilities; and considered worthy. Out of this guarantee comes empowerment and the security to know ourselves, to grow, to change, and to share ourselves with others.
2. Stimulating Growth: The total personality of the protégé or mentee is considered in that the mentor always considers the uniqueness of the protégé or mentee in the process of guiding to growth and development. Nurturing, then, is more about drawing out the potential that already exists within the protégé than it is about shaping the protégé in the image of the mentor.
3. Believing in the Protégé’s Potential for reaching full Maturity. This aspect of the nurturing process is vital to the success of the mentoring relationship—not just that the mentor believes in the protégé but that the mentor’s belief in the protégé keeps him or her focused on the protégé’s potential. The mentor facilitates growth by focusing more on the future possibilities of the protégé.
4. Care Giver. It is said that the quality of “caring” is an important characteristic of an effective mentor. “Affection” as a care giver becomes the “cornerstone of effective mentoring”. Mentors have the greatest impact on their protégés when they exhibit concern for the total well-being of the mentee. From the Christian perspective, total –well being is attending to the personal, professional, and spiritual concerns of the mentee, the mentor helps him or her develop an integrated view of life. In practical terms, this means helping the protégé to see the connections between such things as work, family life, personal character, and his or her relationship with God.

Finally, the role of care giver keeps the mentor focused on the needs of the mentee. Levinson et al. (1978:253) note that one of the great hazards of mentoring is the temptation for the mentor to exploit the mentee by using the relationship for his or her own purposes. Exploitation is not nearly as likely when the mentor truly cares for the protégé and is committed to the protégé’s total well-being. 

In summary, then, mentoring roles define the manner in which a mentor relates to a mentee. The mentor serves as a role model by the example of his or her life, as a nurturer by his or her commitment to the growth and development of the protégé, and as a care giver by the affectionate concern shown for the mentee’s personal, professional, and spiritual needs.

The portraits includes the following characteristics:

• Concentrated efforts to influence a few individuals on a deep level;

• Shared-life experiences in which the mentor serves as a model for the protégé;

• Delegated responsibilities for the purpose of providing practical experience;

• Supervision for the purpose of processing practical experiences;

• Empowering and releasing the protégé for personal ministry;

• Serving as a sponsor for the protégé;

• Belief in the future potential of the protégé;

• A relationship characterized by warmth and affection;

• The willingness to confront areas of perceived weakness; and,

• Aiding in the transition from one life stage to another.

Conclusion: We are encouraged to pass on this faith to others who will carry on with the right legacy. We cannot continue to blame this generation because we have not taken the rightful place in their lives. If now that we are alive it is this way, how shall it be when we are no more and we failed to pass on, help to develop and grow in the Christian faith.

Practical Steps

1. Chose one person to mentor.
2. Get close to the person. Discuss to know background and some challenges
3. Help develop skill and spiritual gift in the person as you show concern
4. Create as much as possible informal sessions for sharing ideas
5. Make as part of your family by affirming and introducing to family members
6. Relate with the person as a friend not a boss or tough father.

We can start to reshape the  tomorrow of our children today by mentoring Christian leaders for the next generation.. 

REFERENCES

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Principles for Developing People to their Fullest Potential (Colorado Springs, CO: Nav Press,.

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