Spiritual Mentorship

John Pippin

I.       The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19)

          A.      We cannot forget verse 20

          B.      Verse 20 can only be accomplished through mentorship

1.       How many Sunday morning sermons will a person have to sit through to learn “all I have commanded you?”

2.       What if they came to every service?    

a.       Could you stick to a diet that you would only eat 4 times a week? Three times on Sunday and once on Wednesday?

b.       Even at 4 hours a week, it would take years for someone to hear every passage of scripture. (Unless I just read from the pulpit)

II.      Is Mentorship Scriptural?

A.      While the word “mentorship” is never used, the principle is certainly applied

          1.       II Timothy 2:2

          2.       Galatians 6:6

B.      Titus 2:1-8 gives us an idea of what spiritual mentorship should look like.

          1.       Speaking things proper for sound doctrine

          2.       Older women admonish younger women

          3.       Younger men are to be exhorted

III.     Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8)

          A.      Four places the seeds are sown:

                   1.       Path

2.       Rocky Soil

                   3.       Thorny Soil

                   4.       Good Soil

          B.      What can we control?

                   “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop–thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown?  (Mark 4:13-20 NIV)

          C.      In every case, something can be done!

                   1.       Put up a scarecrow to scare away the birds (Satan)

                             a.       James 4:7

                             b.       Eph 6:11-13

                   2.       Give shade and help move the stones (trials)

                             a.       Romans 15:1-6

                             b.       Galatians 6:1-2

                   3.       Remove some weeds (temptations)

                             a.       Colossians 3:1-2 (spiritual perspective)

                             b.       I Timothy 6:17-19

                   4.       Continue to water

                             a.       I Corinthians 3:6-7

b.       A person right out of the baptistery is unlikely to convert dozens right away.

IV.     What can we do specifically?

A.      Fellowship – (Gk word koinonia meaning partnership,

participation) Not a weekly event, but literally “life sharing”

B.      Be hospitable – How can a person be “in fellowship” and at the same time know nothing about your family life? Having one person over once does not make you hospitable.

C.      Exhibit a stable Christian family life – husband/wife, children,

D.      Show them a Christian lifestyle – good steward, not to jump to conclusions based on assumptions, what it means to exercise self control (gluttony, or substance abuse), to have compassion, to use wisdom, and to be humble (does all of this sound familiar?)

V.      Are WE ready?  Can WE get ready?  Are YOU ready?

2 Peter 2:20-22 (New King James Version)

“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.