Dr. D's Devotional
Title: Discipleship 18
by Dennis Reschke
Another hindrance to mentoring is impatience. There
are three stages in a mentoring relationship. The first is the honeymoon
stage of elation, of joy of being cared for and nurturing, of relating the
Word and Spirit to another, the joy of receiving, The second stage is the
trial or test stage where both parties feel like quitting. This may be due
to unfulfilled expectations, unforeseen hardships and inconveniences. These
are overcome by decision, not by feelings. God HAS ALREADY given us discipline
(2Tim 1:7); we increase its capacity by exercising it. Even if we made a
bad decision in arranging this mentorship relationship, the Scripture says
we should hold good to our word (Ps 15:4). (This later point is a good reason
for prior arrangement of a short trial period, i.e, plan on reevaluating
after a month). Finally there is the fruitfulness stage where both parties
are bearing fruit in the relationship.
Another hindrance is the fear of making mistakes. Bob Mumford once said,
"I don't trust anyone unless he walks with a limp", meaning, unless you've
experienced some hard knocks, you are untried and therefore cannot be fully
trusted. "The righteous fall seven times..."(Pr 24:16) Are you righteous?
The Word says you are (2Cor 5:21). Seven is the number for perfection. It
isn't to be taken literally, rather in the sense that as many times as it
takes to pass the test is how many times you fall. "... and the Lord will
hold you up" (Ps 91). God says we will fall. He is also there to pick us
up. Love protects. At this point it is good to debrief with the Lord and
ask Him what went wrong. Learn from mistakes. It's foolishness to keep failing
at the same thing over and over. We WILL make mistakes mentoring. So what.
Ask God and the mentoree to forgive you, correct yourself, and go on.
Hurts from the past are another hindrance. Paul (2Tim 4:16) was abandoned
by his children when he was in a pinch: he forgave them. Jesus' followers
abandoned him also. Someone probably has abandoned you, has offended you,
has betrayed you, has slighted you... Now what? Do you quit? Jesus didn't,
Paul didn't. We have the same grace available to us as they (2Pet 1:1).
We HAVE patience (Gal 5:22). The opposite of patience is quitting.
Abuse of authority is another. All authority, whether civil or spiritual,
is from God (Rom 13:1-4). Because of free will, this authority is sometimes
abused. Paul (and Jesus) wrote about forgiving abusive authority in the
midst of one of the most hideous and abusive despotic tyrannies of all time:
Rome, Nero, Diocletian. True biblical authority is never taken, it is offered.
If anyone forces their authority on you in the church you can be assured
something is wrong (assuming you have not done something amiss). Authority
comes from the anointing of God's spirit and is the sum total of one's character,
wisdom, spiritual gift, and servant attitude. Healthy spiritual fathers
earn the right to speak into their sons' lives because they do so with the
heart of a servant, affirming and encouraging them in their walk with Christ.
If you have been the victim of abusive church authority, ask God to forgive
you of your faults in the matter, ask Him to forgive the offending party
(1John 5:16), and continue on. Don't let offense stop your progress into
the higher things of God. Why let the behavior of others effect your personal
walk with God? Don't give people power over your life like that.
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