The Next Generation - An Authentic Mentor

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2

We are men of convictions. We are willing to take a stand for the things we believe in. We are not perfect, but we do our best to live by the precepts God has laid before us in His Word. The world may look at us as fanatics, but we are simply trying to be obedient.

Our mission in life is to share these precepts to another generation in hopes that they  will become convictions to stand on for generations to come. 

Our mission is not an easy one. At times we feel like we are crushed together in a crowd that is sweeping us away into a river rapidly reaching a waterfall into an ocean of muddied and polluted water. We ask ourselves - how much difference can we make anyway?  Can we step out of the crowd? Could our stand really stop the flow of the river or clear up the water below? First of all, we can add nothing or change anything in the strength of our own actions. Our greatest opportunity is to touch the life of the person pressed up against us in the crowd headed over the waterfall. Our only hope is based on our personal relationship with Christ and how willing we are to let the Holy Spirit guide and use us as God wishes. Jesus calls all of us to think like Him, be like Him, and do like Him. We will never be a Jesus in His perfection, but Jesus promised us that we will be able to do greater works than He. "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to be with the Father." John 14:12

The question now becomes - how do we do these things?  We all know men who really possess the character quality of authenticity. They are sincerely real in their walk with the Lord. That authenticity permeates every fiber of their being and brushes off on the person closest to them as they live their lives. The mind set and actions coming from our heart say as much or more to the generations coming behind us as anything we may do. The next generation is looking for men who are real. 

Psalm 28 says that we are to teach that same Christ - like character to the next generation. We want them to know the real God, but also, to know Him in such an authentic way that they too can pass it on. If children in our culture today don't know Jesus in this way, it is because we have failed to teach them. The children in our culture today are screaming for someone to tell them the truth and to show them the way. The crowd pressing up against them is pushing them over the waterfall and they are crying out - is this all there is?

God also intends that we walk along side other men in our journey. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27: 17. We are to take the time to invest our lives in other men. There are no special gifts required for this investment, we simply need to be ourselves in sharing what God has taught us along our way. It requires only sharing and listening and being willing to love and care about the other man. Young men especially are looking for someone to show them the way. They want to know how life works with God.

Jesus set the example of the perfect mentor. He spent His three years of ministry surrounding himself around twelve men. In that group of men he focused sharply on three - Peter, James, and John. His mentoring way was to teach them, show them how to live out his teaching, and then to let them go out on their own, knowing he was right there behind them every step of the way.

Our children and the young man sitting in the office just down the hall are needing us to come along side of them in the crushing crowd headed down the river. They need you and me to help pull them onto the bank before they go over the waterfall into the ocean of polluted water. We just need to be willing to sit on the bank for a while with no one else around and where the noise of everyday living has been quieted. We simply share the beliefs and convictions God has developed in our lives, guiding them with love, understanding, and patience. They are the next generation.