Dr. D's Devotional
Title: Discipleship 17
by Dennis Reschke
Continuing with hindrances to spiritual fathering,
apathy is another common error. This is the phenomenon of being caught up
in the things of this world: making a living, taking their kids to soccer
games, golfing, and participating in civic activities, feeling they have
not time to be a spiritual father of mother. "Turn [repent] from you indifference
and become enthusiastic about the things of God," the Scripture says (Rev
3:19). If you are going to play golf, take your spiritual son along. If
you are going to go shopping, take one of your spiritual daughters with
you. Try not to travel alone. Invite them to join you on trips. This attitude
is one of servanthood. Unless we become servants we will never be parents.
We are born sons and daughters of God but we choose to be servants. Paul
went so far as to say he was a slave of God and the Gospel. Our minds balk
at such a thought to be enslaved to anyone or anything. God says don't trust
the mind for input into spiritual matters, rather trust the heart and the
Scripture. If we wait till we understand we will never experience the things
of God. Who can understand the new birth? We simply bow our knees and accept
the free gift. Only afterwards do we really grasp in our minds, albeit limited,
the fullness of what the new birth gave us. Ask any spiritual father or
mother the benefits of mentoring, the joy of bringing a child into adulthood.
Insecurity is another hindrance. Moses told the Lord he could not speak
properly. Jeremiah told the Lord he was too young. Joshua was scared, Gideon
was from the wrong family. God's love will always win over the fear of man.
The fear of man is a snare (Pr 29:25). Insecurity is really disguised pride.
What we're really saying when we give these excuses is that WE can't handle
it: this militates against the grace and directive of God which says HE
does it through us. All we must do is be available and willing. "If you
are willing and obedient you will eat the good of the land" (Isa 1:19).
A lack of modeling is another hindrance. How much our lives would have been
different had we all had active role models in our lives. I know mine would.
So often we are just thrown into situations in which we either "sink or
swim". Often we end up swimming badly, with weird bizarre strokes that are
very inefficient and cumbersome. How much easier it would have been if someone
had simply sat us down and showed us how to do it properly. Spiritual parents
are not necessarily Christians who have "arrived" at some super level of
spirituality. We are all still learning about the kingdom of God and who
we are in Christ. If there is someone in the Body that you admire, take
the initiative to be mentored by them. Ask them if you can follow them around,
etc. I'm a drummer. Growing up I sometimes had the benefit of taking drum
lessons. I noticed that when I was taking lessons, I advanced much more
quickly then when I didn't. Mentorship accelerates growth, and good instruction/correction
accelerates positive growth. A good model is used in medical school: you
watch, you do, you teach. A doctor will allow the student to observe a procedure;
the next time he/she is expected to perform the same procedure, and the
next time to instruct someone else to do it. We can do the same as spiritual
mentors.
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