Mentoring Leadership: Building Generations for Christ

Dr. Alexander Kurian

A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser; a guide, counselor, and consultant. He advises and trains, especially a younger colleague. A mentor shares what he personally knows – what he has learned. He is assumed to have greater wisdom, experience and maturity. Leadership gurus today uses the term “People Engineering” to denote the concept of mentoring relationship. A mentor is not only a trusted counselor or coach, he is also a caregiver. In the context of the church, mentoring involves intentional shepherding; it is part of the discipleship process. In God’s plan and purpose, God uses others to shape, train, equip and prepare us for effective ministry.

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Whatever be the contemporary usage and implications of mentoring in leadership circles, in its purest and positive form, we find mentoring as a vital leadership development principle in the Bible (though it is different from the secular models). Where could one find a more able mentor than Jesus? Jesus’ training of the twelve is a superb model in mentoring. At the very outset of His public ministry, Jesus chose men who were willing to be mentored. His disciples were called, prepared and trained for their ministry assignments through the mentoring process of Jesus. This was a part of His Kingdom agenda. Jesus mentored, prepared, trained and equipped these chosen men for their mission. This training by the Master was indispensable for their ministry.

Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy are some of the other noteworthy examples of mentoring relationships in the Bible. The mentoring leaders trained and equipped their disciples. This is a vital leadership principle in the Bible which cannot be ignored both by spiritual leaders and their followers (mentors and the mentees). We must pay close attention to this divinely approved strategy.

It is sad to note that our vision for mentoring leadership is very minimal or even nil. Many assemblies are not optimistic and hopeful about the next line of leadership. Even in assemblies where able men have ministered and shepherded for many years, a future generation of leaders is not in view. It is evident that something went wrong somewhere. In an assembly where I took a series of Bible studies on spiritual leadership, one of the elders made a confession that in the last 40 years, no one has preached on biblical leadership/eldership from their pulpit!

Passing on the Baton (2 Tim.2:1-2)

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Paul and Timothy present an outstanding model for mentoring relationship. Paul recognized the importance of equipping a successor to carry on the Gospel after his life and ministry were over. Paul was passionate about this mentoring mission. His approach included carefully selecting and training the right person for the job and equipping him for the tasks of ministry, encouraging him in the challenges of life and empowering him for fruitful service for the Master (this is true in the case of Titus also, and may be others who are not specifically mentioned by name). In its historical context, Paul wrote his letters to Timothy to equip him for the task of leading and stabilizing the church. This is a vital aspect of the leadership role to prepare the next generation of Timothys in Word, in doctrine, in practical wisdom, and in shepherding skills to be effective servant-leaders.

Many of us in leadership roles forget this vital responsibility in our calling – to be mentoring and modeling to those just behind us. This is an indispensable aspect of discipleship in the church. This is the only way godly and spiritual leadership will continue in a multigenerational setting described in 2 Tim.2:1-2: “You therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (NASB). A closer look at these verses reveal strategic truths for building generations for Christ to lead the people of God and to carry on the Gospel mission.

The central proposition of the text revolves around two responsibilities - to grow strong in grace and to teach others (the principle of growing in grace and knowledge, 2 Peter 3:18). Though others falter and fail, more is expected of Timothy (“YOU” is in the emphatic position).Timothy is to be different from the defectors (2 Tim.3:10, 14; 4:5). Timothy has to “Be strong.”  Since it is in the present tense, the command is best translated, “keep on being empowered.” Timothy has to constantly “keep in touch with the power.” He is to responsibly draw upon a divinely-provided resource. The middle voice means “strengthen yourself.” God does the empowering; we just submit and receive that power. Christ is the source of that power and grace is the means. The preposition “in” may best be taken as instrumental, “by means of”. It has to be continual and uninterrupted. If the flow of power stops, nothing works (like electricity). What a solemn reminder that only God’s grace will enable us to fulfill our ministry.

 “Growing strong in grace” is for a definite purpose – to faithfully pass on what Timothy had learned through years of tutelage. Timothy’s attention is called to a ministry of spiritual reproduction – passing on the truth to the next generation. The emphasis is on the transmission of truth more than its preservation. It is preserved through transmission. Today many of us are zealous in guarding and defending the truth, but seldom think about its faithful transmission to the next generation. It is to be a succession of apostolic doctrine which is now to be found in the New Testament.

“What you have heard from me” implies years of close association, discipleship and mentoring which was intentional and goal-oriented. Timothy was Paul’s “son” (literally “child,” which implies a very endearing relationship which is crucial to mentoring). “Entrust”/commit carries the idea of placing something valuable in another’s trust for safekeeping.  The treasure with which Timothy had been entrusted is to be entrusted by him to others. It is not simply “sharing” the truth or “giving” the truth, but it is to “entrust” and “commit” the truth; to deposit for safe-keeping. Timothy must be fully aware of the importance of the stewardship of truth entrusted to him. As a steward he has to be faithful, responsible and accountable (1 Cor. 4:1-2). The truth is also attested and confirmed by many witnesses. Paul’s teachings were supported by the confirming testimony of other reliable teachers of sound doctrine (“supported by many witnesses,” A.T. Robertson). The teachings were “in the presence of many witnesses”.   This may also be a reference to the public and open nature of Paul’s instruction, in contrast to the secret and esoteric teachings of the “false teachers” and cult groups (the Gnostic and mystery religions of Paul’s day).

Paul entrusted the treasure of truth to Timothy, charged him to guard, and then commanded him to “entrust” the truth to faithful men” who would be able to teach others also. The leader is to be empowered continually in the grace (strengthening, enabling or sustaining grace) that is in Christ Jesus to shepherd the flock, to equip the saints for the work of service and to train qualified men to carry on the ministry in the next generation. What an awesome leadership responsibility!

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“Faithful and able” – “Faithful” implies trustworthiness. Men whose character reflects the faithfulness of God’s own Word which they are going to teach. “Able” means that which reaches at a certain standard, sufficient, qualified, or capable. It may be translated as “competent” (NET Bible).  Paul is directing Timothy to identify a specific group of men who are spiritually devout and faithful, who are also gifted in teaching – godly and gifted (1 Tim.3:2; Titus 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:24); spiritual leaders with “integrity of heart and skillfulness of hands” (Psa.78:72). Not all faithful men are gifted or able to teach. Timothy has to keep an eye on such people, teach and equip them to be able to pass this message of truth to others. These men must be prequalified by proven spiritual character and ability. We cannot minimize the importance of this vital truth in relation to leadership training. I believe this forgotten or ignored biblical truth needs to rediscovered and implemented urgently for the health and welfare of our assemblies.

Paul is not suggesting a general teaching/ training program for all. In a wider sense, every believer has a responsibility to teach God’s truth to any other believer (Sunday school, youth ministry, weekly Bible studies, discipleship programs etc. serve this purpose). Every Christian has a discipleship responsibility. Teachers have to teach all and not all teaching is to equip other teachers or leaders. The elders have a great responsibility in teaching all believers (1 Tim.5:17). But that is not what is referred to here. The specific teaching ministry in this context is very selective. Paul is talking about the careful, responsible, systematic training of shepherding leaders in the church who will teach and disciple others in the fullness of God’s Word. In other words, Paul believed in trained spiritual leadership. God does not call every believer to be a teacher and a teacher of teachers. Training to transfer the faith to others is an integral part of discipleship. It has general and specific dimensions. It is the specific dimension that is emphasized here. Paul’s vision here is for trained leaders who are to be spiritual reproducers of faithful and able men equipped to teach others. The thrust of Paul’s instruction here is on intensified training of church leaders. If the church is to be strong, its leaders must be strong.

The transmission of truth takes place in four stages – Paul, Timothy, faithful men and others (4 groups, 4 stages, and 4 time periods). Paul envisions four generations of godly leaders.

Points to Ponder

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1. The teachers and shepherd leaders have a special responsibility to faithfully teach and transmit the truth to competent people who can faithfully teach and lead in their generation. Let us passionately follow this biblical vision for leadership development.

2. The Lord’s will and instruction to ensure a succession of competent teachers in the church is emphatically presented by Paul. Let us not totally out-source the teaching/training program to institutions. While the institutions may serve this purpose on a broader level, which is commendable, it has to be fulfilled by local churches and its leaders as the New Testament teaches.

3. The instruction and guidelines here presupposes competency, giftedness and quality as far as the teaching ministry of the church is concerned. This is what our assemblies need today. Let us not make compromises on this.

This is an urgent need of the hour and may the divine GPS, the Holy Spirit, give us expert guidance toward this goal.

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