What is a Mentor and Do I Really Need One
Colossians 1:28-29
The Importance of Mentorship
- Key Question: What am I doing today that will guarantee my impact for Jesus Christ in the next generation?
- Primary Point: Impacting the next generation by building into the present one
Evaluating Personal Impact
- Question to Reflect: Where are your men and women?
- Observation: Many pastors are busy with activities not related to developing people
Mentorship in Christian Life
- Scriptural Basis: Colossians 1:28-29 and 1 Timothy 4:15-16
- Definition of Mentoring: Developing a person to their maximal potential for Jesus Christ
- Danger of Comparison: Comparison leads to guilt or pride; focus on personal progress rather than perfection
Characteristics of a Mentor
- Commitments of a Mentor:
- Help you grow and keep you growing
- Help you realize your life goals
- Ownership: Importance of personal goals over imposed objectives
The Role of Mentorship in Personal Development
- Analogy: Roller derby whip to describe mentorship
- Historical Context: Mentoring in trades and its focus on attitudes, values, and philosophy
Mentorship in the Life of Jesus
- Scriptural Reference: Mark 3:13-15 and Matthew 5 (Beatitudes, Salt, and Light)
- Twofold Focus of Jesus:
- Personal relationships
- Involvement in ministry
- Impact through Being Different: The focus on character over credentials
The Need for Mentors and Mentoring
- Reasons for Mentoring:
- Severe shortage of labor and leadership
- Perceived need for mentors among younger and older generations
- The assault on existing leadership and the correlation between purpose and life
- Observations:
- Lack of leadership despite great opportunities
- Frustration among young people seeking mentors
- Older people seeking fulfillment through mentoring
- The disconnect between the need for mentors and the availability of mentors
Conclusion
- Call to Action: Encouraging everyone to reflect on their impact and engage in mentoring
- Final Thought: Emphasizing the importance of retirement not as an end but as a continued opportunity for ministry and impact
*The above summary is AI-generated, so discrepancies may exist. Please refer to the audio or video file to verify accuracy.
About the Contributors
Howard G. Hendricks
Dr. Howard G. Hendricks, known simply as “Prof,” directly or indirectly touched millions of lives in the evangelical community and beyond. For more than sixty years Prof served on the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), where he taught more than ten thousand students. He served as the chairman of the Center for Christian Leadership for over twenty years. He also ministered in person in more than eighty countries. Through speaking engagements, radio, tapes, films, the sixteen books he authored and coauthored, countless journal and popular-market articles, his service on numerous boards, and his work as a chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys (1976–1984), his reach was and is worldwide.
His legacy, in partnership with Jeanne, his wife of more than sixty-five years, includes four children and six grandchildren. Holding large audiences enthralled at venues such as Billy Graham’s conference center or Promise Keepers’ stadium rallies, Prof would confide, “It’s wonderful to be here with you, but I have a group of delicious students waiting for me back at the seminary.”
Contributors
