BRIAN NIXON, in an edited version of an article first published on ASSIST News Service, looks at the value of a mentor whose words match their life…
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Over the years, I’ve been approached by both students and layman about the mentors I’ve had. And every time I’m asked, I get excited. Why? Because mentorship is important, even if the mentors are found in the books they’ve left behind.
Recently, a student from the ministry school at the church I serve (Calvary Albuquerque) asked me to mentor him throughout the school year. Being that I’m not teaching this year, I agreed. His name is Peter, and he’s spent most of his life in the business world. But over the past couple of years he’s felt a tug towards ministry, which led him to the school.
Each time we meet, Peter asks questions about difficult Bible passages, theological quandaries, or about books. It’s been a blast for me to discuss the books – and mentors – I’ve had. This past week he asked about John Stott. I was more than obliged to discuss Mr Stott, one of my ‘book mentors’. One of the things I told Peter that I like about Stott is that his being – his person – matched his books (as his several biographies clearly state); he put feet to his faith, he walked the talk.
I told Peter that one of the things I look for in mentors is a real life witness. It’s fairly easy to give lip service to a bunch of things that sound spiritual or Biblical, it’s a whole different thing to live them. I told Peter about the Anabaptist theologian, James McClendon, who helped coin the phrase “biography as theology”. One of the tenants of McClendon’s thought is that you get a clearer picture of what a person really believes by how that person acts: belief shapes a person’s biography, and biography shapes belief. The two go hand-in-hand.
As an example, if a person teaches from the pulpit (or in person) that Christians are called to serve one another (which is true), but turns around and consistently treats people poorly, wanting to be waited upon rather than serving others – his or her actions should give pause. Jesus said that people who pursue God (as opposed to false prophets) will be known by the fruit produced in their life, the things they do and say for the Lord (see Matthew 7:16). And the fruit defined in the Bible clearly are action-oriented (see Galatians 5: 22-23), products from a productive Christian life.
Now it must be said that no one – apart from Jesus – is perfect. So we all fall short with our actions at various junctures in our life; it’s true with me and the mentors I sought out. And, yes, it is better to pull the plank out of our eye before we point out the twig in someone else’s (Matthew 7: 3-5). So don’t be legalistic in your pursuit of a mentor; you won’t find the perfect person. But I think finding mentors whose consistent actions match their arguments, whose lips match their life, their words to their walk – is the best to find.
I encourage every Christian to find a mentor – someone you can talk with, glean, and learn from. As the noun form of the word conveys, “an experienced and trusted advisor” is something all people can benefit from. With a mentor, your life will be richer, challenged, and hopefully help your biography match your theology.
This is an edited version of a longer story first published on ASSIST News Service.
