Mentor

Readings for today: 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

My first mentor was and is a man named Don Bachman. Don became my mentor soon after I became a Christian in college and we still talk almost every month. It is not a stretch to say that I am the man and the husband and the father and the pastor I am today because of Don’s influence. In addition to Don, I can count any number of other mentors God brought into my life over the years who also shaped me into the person I am today. Charles Tyler. Berk Sterling. Peter Barnes. Doug Garrard. Tom Gillespie. Jim Kay. Cleophus LaRue. Sam Atchison. Burwell Bennett. Steve Hayner. Tom Melton. Bud Sparling. Randy MacFarland. David Schultz. Harry Lightner. Ray Noah. The list is significant. In addition to the godly men, God used to mentor me, there have been any number of godly women along the way as well. Joan Smart. Fran Atchison. Daisy Grimes. Sissy Crowe. Ruth Gamble. Sharol Hayner. Sarah Arnold. Linda Noah. Most of all, my mother, Esther Resler. Yes, the mentoring from these women took on a different tone and form than the mentoring I received from the men but it was formative nonetheless.

By all accounts, Joash was a good king. For most of his life and for most of his reign, he was faithful to the Lord. This was no accident. The Bible makes it clear that he had an exceptional mentor. “And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” (2 Kings‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬) Jehoiada was both a godly man and a godly priest. He served the Lord until the age of 130 and they buried him among the kings of Israel in the city of David because of all the good he had accomplished in his life. Soon after he passed, Joash came under the influence of his fellow princes. They led him astray. He neglected the Temple he had repaired and abandoned the worship of God. He killed those who confronted him, even Jehoiada’s own son! Finally, he was assassinated by his own servants.

When you look back over the course of your life, who are the godly influences who shaped you into the person you are today? And who are you, in turn, mentoring in your life right now? I am blessed to meet with several men on a regular basis and we talk about life and faith and how we might follow God more closely. We discuss deep issues and we pray for each other regularly. It’s intense work at times but it’s good and I can see the difference it is making in their lives. The same difference I hope Don and all the others can see that they’ve made in my life. Mentoring is a key component to discipleship. Make sure you have people in your life who are mentoring you and make sure you are mentoring others. This is how we pass on the faith.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 14-15, 2 Chronicles 25

Mentoring

Readings for today: 2 Chronicles 25-27, Psalms 77

Everyone needs a mentor. An older, wiser person in their life who has walked with Jesus faithfully and who can share from a deep well of spiritual wisdom. I’ve been blessed to have several mentors over the course of my life. Don Bachman and Berk Sterling were two men who took me under their wing when I was a new Christian. They taught me how to have a devotional time with Jesus. They taught me how to be a godly husband and father. They taught me the value of serving the Lord with open hands. Jim Kay, Cleophus LaRue, and Sam Atchison were next up for me. I met them in seminary and while I was serving at New Jersey State Prison. They taught me how to be a godly pastor, preach the Word of God, minister effectively and professionally, and most of all, to trust the power of the gospel to change lives. Steve Hayner became a mentor to me while I was pursuing my doctorate. He poured his heart into me and taught me the value of relationships. He was one of the most humble men I have ever met and he cultivated friendships across the political, social, global, and theological spectrum. Something I’ve tried hard to duplicate in my own life. Currently, I am blessed not only to still be meeting with Don Bachman but also men like Randy MacFarland and David Schultz who continue to encourage and challenge me. I am where I am today because of these men. I am who I am today because of these men. There is nothing better for your walk with Jesus than having a godly mentor in your life.

I thought about the power of mentoring when I ran across these words in our reading today, “He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” (‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭26‬:‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬) By all accounts, Uzziah was a godly king. He ruled for over fifty years in Jerusalem. He expanded the borders. He built wealth and power. The nation enjoyed a period of great blessing under his leadership. But Uzziah didn’t do this on his own. He wasn’t born this way. He didn’t stumble onto it by himself. He had a mentor. A priest named Zechariah who was well-known in Judah for his faithfulness to God. Zechariah feared the Lord and taught others to do the same, including the young king. While Uzziah was under his influence, the nation prospered and Uzziah sought the Lord and walked in the ways of his father Amaziah and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. However, one gets the sense that after Zechariah dies (an implicit assumption from the text since Azariah was priest when Uzziah went into the Temple), Uzziah loses his way. He becomes proud and arrogant, believing himself to be worthy enough to offer sacrifices before the Lord. The result is decline and eventual disease and death.

I have known many over the course of my life who started well. They gave their lives to Christ and followed him faithfully under the wise counsel of older, wiser saints. However, I have seen some of those same people fall away as relationships shifted and they no longer had the benefit of a spiritual mentor. That’s why I’m so passionate about mentoring. It’s why I mentor several younger men in my congregation. It’s why I make myself available to younger, less experienced pastors in our denomination and around the world. We all need someone to guide us in the Christian life. If you don’t have one, let me encourage you to find a mentor today.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Chronicles 28-31, Psalms 78