MENTORING (The new ‘Discipleship’)

What is the first things that comes to mind when you think of that word?

Who has had a mentor? (hand up)

What experiences have you had with mentors? Personally I have had a mix of let downs and restorations.

It is my belief that we should all have a mentor and a mentored. Or two or three. Let me explain what I mean by that though.

Mentoring Mis-beliefs:

Nothing to Offer V’s Uniqueness

Perfect V’s Transparent/Real

Knowing it all V’s Humility

Always the same V’s Dynamic V’s Formal

Forever V’s Intentionally timed

My mentoring experiences.

Bad (young = needed reliability)

Good (dif etc)

Being the Big Person.

Love and acceptance:

Initiate:

Contact, Difficult conversations, Look after the boundaries (I can mentor you but not always be on call etc)

Honesty/Transparency:

Lead by example in honesty, be honest about your struggles and when you don’t know the answer.
Don’t put your struggles on them, but be honest enough with them so they know they are not along in theirs and that you are not perfect either.
Answer their questions honestly.
Kindness and love do not lie to avoid hurting somebody’s feelings.

Timeframe:

Teenagers – particularly boys need stability and a mentor who is available for less than a year often does more damage than good.
Be clear about it if appropriate – don’t expect yourself to mentor them forever and don’t let them expect that if it’s not the case.