The Importance of Mentoring

I was doing some reading and prep work this afternoon and came across a really good article on the importance of mentoring.  I am trying to continually move my Youth Group towards more and more mentoring.  This article only reinforced the need to do so more aggressively and quickly.  Let me share a few quotes that I found particularly powerful.  All citations come from “Shepherd is a Verb: The role of relational mentoring in communicating truth” by Jeff Meyers.  The article appears in a book entitled A New Kind of Apologist which was edited by Sean McDowell with a copyright date of 2016.  Here goes:

-“Growth happens when we walk with one another in our struggles.”  He was pointing out the need to be involved in the lives of those we lead.  I hate this saying but “we need to do life together.”  The teenagers we lead need to be around us.  Teaching lessons in a formal, classroom/church setting is great but ultimately teens will learn more about living for Christ by watching us attempt to do it in real life then they will be simply hearing a bunch of lessons about it.

“While mentoring is a common strategy in business, it has the potential to transform the church too.  The Barna Research Group found that twentysomethings who stay in church were twice as likely to have a close personal friendship with an adult inside the church. Those who had an adult mentor at church, aside from the pastor, were almost three times as likely to stay as those who did not.”  Wow!  Getting involved in the lives of the members of our Youth Group is a powerful, transformational agent.

“Academic training piles up kindling; personal life-on-life influence lights the match. Apologetics training is invaluable for this generation, but transformation takes place when that truth is experienced in relationship.”

I am still formulating exactly what the Youth Group I lead will look like this fall.  However, rest assured that it will involve a heavier emphasis on mentoring.  I know of many coaches and leaders who take their teams to dinner, go on events and outings together and find ways to spend time with those they lead.  I guarantee those players and teens who are involved won't remember every lesson taught on the field or in the classroom but they will remember vividly the time spent off the field with the coach/leader.  Whether you Lead, Coach or Teach find a way to get more involved with those you have the privilege to be involved with.

Paul Lundy