Mentoring and Instructing
Mentoring & Instructing
Mentoring
Mentoring is
probably what most people think of when they hear of discipleship.
They think of two people sitting down and discussing spiritual
matters. This is a fair summation of mentoring but it can also be
oversimplified.
A mentoring
relationship may be built upon a previous modeling relationship or
it may be a new relationship. In a mentoring relationship, modeling
is still being performed at times however. One big difference is
that there is a conscious effort on the part of both sides that want
the mentoring to take place.
As said before,
modeling can be done for anyone and you don’t need permission to
model a Christian life. In a mentoring relationship, the mentor
will show a person what to do and then explain what is being done.
Or the modeling may have been done in the past and once the
mentoring stage is begun, the mentor explains the action.
In John
21:15-17, Jesus mentors Peter. Three times he asks if Peter loves
him, then he instructs him to feed his sheep. Previously, Peter had
heard Jesus speak about shepherding and being the Good Shepherd. He
had seen Jesus model love wherever they went. At this time, Jesus
needs to remind Peter of the example that has already been given.
What other examples of mentoring are there in the Bible?
Can you think of
ways this can be implemented in our church?
Instructing
We are all
familiar with instruction. In its simplest form, it is teaching
another believer some truth. In the great commission, Jesus told
his disciples to teach others to obey everything he commanded. The
disciples responded by instructing with several methods.
In a mentoring
relationship there is often instruction involved but most often it
is on an individual basis or at most a small group. Instruction can
be done with thousands of people at the same time. It is unlikely
that we will have the opportunity to address thousands at once but
we may address more than a small group.
Instruction does
not need to be verbal; it can be in the form of a letter like many
books of the New Testament. Today it can take the form of an email
or be posted on a web page.
Instruction can
be personal or impersonal. You may know the instructor or not.
Like mentoring though, for instruction to be effective, you need to
have a willing student. You can try to instruct some people but if
they don’t want to listen, you are wasting your breath. (The
surgeon general tries to instruct people that smoking is bad for
your health but fails when people are not willing to listen.)
What other methods of instructing can you think of?
How is instructing like modeling and mentoring? How is it
different?
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