One thing that I think today's churches are missing is that we have a heart to reach the loss. We love seeing people come to know Jesus. (And yes - that is awesome). But it stops there. We don't continue with disciplining. I'm not saying all churches but I would say the vast majority put the most effort into salvation and not a lot into growing Christians in their walk.
I think it's incredibly frustrating for new Christians to grow in their walk if they don't have someone to guide them and give them good steps to knowing Jesus better.
I think even seasoned Christians need discipling.
I'm thankful that last fall, two woman I admire and love approached me and asked if they could disciple me. We began to meet once a week for several hours at a time with two others and they both discipled and mentored me and it was amazing what it did for my spiritual growth. And I see now the great importance in it.
This is our group minus one. Clearly a real somber group. :-) Laurie and I are meeting up with one of the Susans tonight and I thought it would be a good time to bring up the subject of "What is a mentor and how do I get one (or be one)" on the blog.
First - I think it's so hard to decide if you should be a mentee or a mentor. Do we really ever think we are at a place to mentor someone? I would say someone could be 70 and a strong Christian and still think they aren't ready to mentor. I know I still think of myself who needs a lot of guidance but honestly I'm in my 40's and it's possibly I could mentor someone. But that feels scary. Like I don't really know enough.
If you are in a place in your walk where you have a lot of questions and you want to grow and you feel like you could really benefit from being mentored, look around your church or women's ministry for a woman you admire and who you see the light of Jesus in. She could be much older or she could even be the same age. I know girls younger than me that I would ask to mentor me just because I see a spiritual maturity in them. Don't be afraid to ask them if they would disciple you. Ask if they would be an accountability partner with you to spend time in the word and to be a prayer partner. You will be amazed at what this could do for your faith.
Maybe you are someone who is spiritually mature and you feel you could offer something to a younger generation - please pray about offering that. You don't have to have all the answers. You can walk through it together.
We did many things as a disciple group. We read a few books together ("The Gospel" by J.D. Greear was one and I loved it). We read through a few books of the Bible. We memorized scripture. We prayed together. And we each took a day and shared our testimony - the long version. I learned from these ladies and I think they maybe even learned from me.
