The Investment of a Lifetime

marriage. Mark Blake, a senior pastor, was skilled in the art of leading worship and mentored me in constructing worship services which gave glory to God and edified the church.

In seminary, Alan Mezger, a church elder and chairman, mentored me as I myself became a leader in the church. Terry Boyle, my pastor in Dallas, and his wife, took Summer and I under their wings and mentored both of us into becoming a solid partnership in ministry, praying for us and encouraging us so that when God called us to Cary, we were nervous, but confident in His empowering strength. They still pray for us to this day.

The list goes on as we moved to Cary. Pastor Don, Omar Sutherland, Pastor Doug Friesen, worship pastor at Crystal Lake Evangelical Free Church, and Glenn Jorian have all served in a mentor role to me as I started full time ministry work.

Of course, it goes without saying that I consider my own father and mother as mentors. Their mentoring was not in something specific, but in general, practical living. Naturally, out of anyone, they have invested the most in me, through their steady love, adoration, discipline and encouragement. Their work ethic and faithful stewardship of the blessings which God has given them will always be a mighty example to me and has positively affected the choices which I make in my own life today.

To all these people I am eternally grateful and I feel as if I can never say enough in gratitude for how they have invested in my life. I’ve tried and it always comes out as being shallow because there is nothing I can say that would be adequate enough. The best thing I can do is pass on what they have taught me. I really don’t know where I would be without learning from their wisdom and their experiences that they have imparted to me. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I think that I might have made a few more along the way if it would not have been for my mentors.

Certainly there is plenty of scripture we can turn to that calls us to seek wisdom from those who are our elders and that calls us to impart wisdom and the gospel to those who are younger in the faith. Certainly one of the most famous calls to disciple people is in Jesus’ last command to His disciples recorded by Matthew in chapter 28 and simply put: Go and make disciples of all nations.

Today I am not going to look at any particular command or call to discipleship but I will instead look at the stories of mentors and their mentorees. The Bible is full of stories of mentors doing the same things which my mentors did for me. These true stories are set up as examples of how we are to live our lives investing in others. There are four Biblical examples which I would like to look at in detail:

Moses and Joshua
In the book of Exodus we find our first example. Moses and Joshua (Mentor and Mentee) aptly illustrate a successful mentoring partnership. Joshua was a younger Jew who demonstrated integrity and Moses with great wisdom decided to delegate an important task. He placed Joshua in command of a battle and demonstrated trust in Joshua’s gifts and leadership potential. He opened the way for their ongoing teamwork. Joshua became a frequent companion of Moses. Even though he was called a servant, he was actually more of a colleague. Moses even allowed Joshua to accompany him to an important meeting with God on the mountaintop