In his book Authentic Spiritual Mentoring, Larry Kreider tells the story of a child who apparently has fallen out of bed during the night. When his parents asks what happened the child replies, "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in."
Unfortunately, that seems to also describe the faith of so many who fill our pews each Sunday morning. Believers, but still not far from the point that they "got in".
With that concern in mind I have been trying to read some books on discipleship. Kreider's book takes a very different approach than the Disciple Making Pastor by Bill Hull that I read earlier this year. While Hull remains skeptical about the efficiency of one on one mentoring, Kreider has built his ministry around those very relationships. (It should be noted that these differences are slightly minimized by the fact that Hull writes specifically to pastors while Kreider addresses a much wider audience. Hull is concerned that mentoring is not the most effective use of a pastor's time. But at the end of the day these are two very different discipleship philosophies.)
For Kreider mentoring is simply the best expression of spiritual parenting. He points to 2 Timothy 2:2 as an example of four generations of believers impacted by proper discipleship. Kreider addresses both the process of finding a mentor and being a mentor. He honestly addresses the challenges and potential pitfalls of mentoring. I particularly enjoyed a chapter entitled "Decision Making Mentoring". This chapter seemed to more about ecclesiology that discipleship, but it was one of the strongest sections I read.
The book provides a wonderful retelling of the Prodigal on pages 97-99. The accountability questions on page 142 while not profound certainly help to ensure that a mentoring relationship covers the ground that matters most.
Personally, I find myself somewhere between Hull and Kreider. I do not feel I should build my ministry primarily on mentoring, but I certainly want to use it more effectively as God leads. I am convinced that mentoring should be part of my pastoral ministry.
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You said, "In his book Authentic Spiritual Mentoring, Larry Kreider tells the story of a child who apparently has fallen out of bed during the night. When his parents asks what happened the child replies, "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in."
Unfortunately, that seems to also describe the faith of so many who fill our pews each Sunday morning. Believers, but still not far from the point that they "got in"."
I say AMEN!! It is sadly an accepted behavior in our churches. In my own life, as I am reading Attributes of God (Tozer), I am astonished at how this all seems so new to me.. Like a fresh idea. I often times feel very childish in the things of Christ when I grew up surrounded by him.
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