A Model on Mentoring
A popular television series features various forms of communal living in America. Weekly episodes feature the Hutterites, the Amish, and other peripheral movements. Granted there are dysfunctional displays, after all it is drama. The tension makes for good TV. And I notice misapplication of Bible beliefs and intentions, as well as improper understanding of Church practice. But as one embedded in American norms, I am struck with the simplicity of their lifestyles. Each movement is absolutely committed to the concept of community. Older trains younger, men lead boys, women teach girls. I believe there is something the broader society can learn from these isolated pockets.
There are popular guidance buzzwords in current culture, coaching, accountability and mentoring to name a few. Each is so important. Coaching has to do with drawing out of the other individual and can be imaged by Proverbs 20:5; "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding can draw them out." An accountability partner provides a safety net for experiencing life. This is someone to come alongside and make observations. Think of Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another." However, mentoring, rather than drawing out or evaluating, pours into the other person. Titus 2 is the perfect model on mentoring. It instructs the older men to be "serious and sensible." Self-control is paramount. Don't let faith, love and patience fail. This is crucial. Women should guard behavior, never fuel gossip. They "must teach what is proper." Now, that's what the Bible says. Men and women, we have a high responsibility.
The way the Bible pictures it, men will invest in their successors. Men teach boys how to carry themselves, how to treat women, how to act in public. Women will teach girls how to interface the world in healthy ways. Model4Jesus and Modest is Hottest, and others, are helping Christian girls be trendy and fashionable. More and more the important moments of my life are the times spent with my sons, basketball tournaments; making music; turning wrenches on the car; holding hands at the end of the day to pray. I love the trending practice in which Dad takes his daughter on a date and demonstrates to her the way a guy should treat her. That's awesome!
Our world desperately needs individuals to stand out. Don't get sucked in by the vortex. Be contradistinct. Platform this model on mentoring.
In : Inspirational
Keith is the proud husband of Stefanie, and they have two boys, Zakary, and Nicholas. He is the lead pastor of Buckeye First Assembly, a progressive, Pentecostal congregation in an exburb of Phoenix. Together Keith and Stefanie have been in ministry for more than two decades having served three congregations in Texas, Colorado, and now Arizona. They have been music ministers performing musicals for all ages; writing and aranging for choirs and orchestras; leading worship bands. Keith holds a Master's of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a BS in Sacred Music from Southwestern University.
