But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15

We as Christians have a debt to pay out of our gratitude for what Christ has done. We must consider reaching the lost as an opportunity to obey our call. The whole purpose of the Jewish nation was to model God's redemptive plan to all of humanity. Now the baton has been passed to the Christian (Gen. 12).We are to be rooted in humility, as our Lord was (Mark 10:45). This means mutual acceptance of others, even those whose culture and beliefs are different. Yet, it is amazing how we Christians exclude one another over trivial items, causing many church splits and schisms! Thus people do not grow or mature, and our churches are filled with weak rather than very many strong Christians all because mentoring is not sought or accomplished!

Perhaps, we have created a poor reputation in the world. We often are the butt of jokes that are well earned. We do not realize this most important point: God accepted us. We, in turn, must accept others! Show His Love and Fruit! How do envy or pride enter in, and how do they prevent you and others from a mentoring relationship? A wild animal will tear at another animal's weakness and frailty. Do we do the same with others, and still praise the Lord? We all have to see that we can do mentoring! We can grow in Christ; we can become mature, we can be effectively used and have a worthy purpose in life and a life that is full of joy and content. All because Christ bears our stupidities, and has patience with us when we are totally undeserving so we can overcome what holds us back. We can seek the good in others, as our Lord did, and be a blessing to others. And we can beware not to seek self-gratification at the expense of others.

Did you know that it is impossible to be a Christian hypocrite, as it is impossible to be half pregnant? Either you are or you are not. The Fruit will show your true colors. The first century Jews were not selected to be the only ones saved. On the contrary, their responsibility was to proclaim God to the Gentile world.

At whatever level you are in the Christian faith, there is always someone who can learn from you. The key is to be a loving and growing Christian. If you think mentoring is too hard, remember Jesus preached and modeled this. In doing so, He fulfilled prophecy and He can fill and fulfill you. The primary goal of our Lord has always been to sanctify all (all people groups, tribes, nations, etc.) people from sin (Rev. 7:9). He saved us not to be self-centered; He saved us to be His ambassadors whatever we are and wherever we go. Paul uses the Scriptures to prove this point in these Romans passages. In contrast, the people of Babel sought their own strength; the question is, do you (Gen 11)? God wants us to seek Him, meaning to place Him first, He who is the greater strength and purpose! And what we get is so wondrous: salvation, spiritual growth, and hope. Hope is the effect of obedience and trust in our Lord (Heb. 6:18). If you have no hope, then you have no vision or purpose, no trust in the One who loves you. Mentoring will be the tool to inspire and instill the precepts and character of our Lord!

© 1999, 2008, Richard J. Krejcir, Ph.D., Discipleship Tools, www.discipleshiptools.org