The Importance of Biblical Mentorship
To this day, I still remember my first bicycle. I was five years old and received it as a Christmas gift from my California grandparents. It was the greatest day of my five-year-old life! At first my dad installed the training wheels, but it wasn’t long before I was itching for the real experience. I longed for the uninhibited freedom and joy of two wheels. What I discovered rather abruptly on those early spring afternoons with my dad at my side was that the fun and joy I craved would come at the difficult and painful cost of scraped knees, bruised legs, and a discouraged will. For a five, almost six-year-old, learning to ride a bike was mentally trying and physically tough endeavor, but my dad remained by my side to coach, train, and encourage me along the whole journey. Even though it might seem simple and insignificant, I am forever in his debt for his bicycle knowledge, mentorship, and support.
Over the last two years of pastoral leadership (my only two years of lead pastor experience), I have learned at least one valuable lesson. Pastoral ministry and leadership are a lot like perpetually learning how to ride a bicycle. Even before the COVID pandemic threw life as we knew it into upheaval, for many, including myself, pedaling with persistence for personal growth, investment into family life, and serving in local church ministry was a consistent and constant balancing act. The pandemic has only magnified and intensified this unending struggle for balance.
What has greatly helped me not only pedal the bicycle of pastoral leadership but also to find the necessary balance in ministry was understanding the importance of biblical mentorship, yes, but also actively pursuing biblical mentorship. While God gave me the strength to pedal and equilibrium to find balance on a bicycle, I would have never properly combined the two without the ongoing help and support of my dad. Likewise, in ministry, as we continually seek to combine the Sprit’s enabling strength with balance and wisdom necessary to serve Christ and His church, we must seek out consistent biblical mentorship and counsel. It is necessary, vital, and an important step towards the perpetual balancing act that strives for healthy, gospel centered ministry that builds the church, edifies believers, and glorifies God.
A simple read through the Hebrew Proverbs will prove to highlight the importance of wisdom, counsel, and mentorship (11:14; 12:15; 13:10; 15:22; 19:20-21; 24:26). Jesus only chose twelve disciples, and intentionally invested in an inner circle of just three—Peter, James, and John. The Apostle Paul himself was taken under the wings of Barnabas (Acts 9:27) and was earnestly mentored by Barnabas while in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). While Barnabas and Paul had their differences (Acts 15:36-16:10), I believe this mentoring relationship instilled into Paul the necessity for them. Very few times in the NT narratives or epistles will you find Paul by himself, rather he is flanked by those he mentored and invested in—Timothy, Titus, Silas, Luke, John Mark, to name just a few.
Clearly, the idea of mentorship is a biblical one. The concept of mentorship is a healthy and helpful one for maintaining ministry balance. Why then does it seem to be pursued and practiced so little? I can think of at least two reasons, both stemming from personal experience and the struggles of my own heart.
1. We are unwilling to admit that we need it. In essence, we lack the humility to pursue it. Our hearts lack a deep foundation in the gospel if we think we have arrived and no longer need to seek wisdom and counsel. Self-sufficiency is a dangerous place to be as a minister of the gospel.
2. We are too busy to actively pursue it. I get it—family life, ministry obligations, sermon prep—these and countless other things vie for our time…but, God has created us as relational beings and our sanctification is intended to be a community project. Let at least one other pastor take an active role in that process, it will be well worth the time invested.
Pastors & ministry leaders, we each are pedaling our own bicycle of ministry that God has stewarded to us. Regardless of your age and ministry experience, I encourage you to let someone mentor you through the balancing act of ministry.
Pastor David Robart
Open Door Baptist Church | Cincinnati, OH