Mentors in Ministry, Growing in Christ

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it. ---2 Timothy 3:14

There's a silly song about friendship that I remember hearing when I was small.  Maybe you older folks remember it being sung on I Love Lucy reruns.  Her version goes like this:

FriendshipIf you're ever in a jam, here I amIf you're ever in a mess, S-O-SIf you ever feel so happy, you land in jail; I'm your bail.It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.When other friendships have been forgot,Ours will still be hot.
If you're ever up a tree, phone to me.If you're ever down a well, ring my bell.If you ever lose your teeth, and you're out to dine... borrow mine.It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.When other friendships have been forgate,Ours will still be great.
If they ever black your eyes, put me wise.If they ever cook your goose, turn me loose.If they ever put a bullet through your brain... I'll complain.It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.When other friendships have been forgit,Ours will still be it. 

 The Bible contains many examples of spiritual mentoring.  As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, "Two are better than one....and a three-strand chord is not quickly broken."  I was reminded of this passage last night when I was watching an episode of "Scorpion" on CBS.  If you are not familiar with the series, a team of geniuses (genii?) are teamed up with a member of the CIA (or Homeland Security, or some other government agency) to solve crime mysteries and bring criminal masterminds to justice.  In one scene, the g-man phones one of the geniuses for help in a jam: they need to make a quick getaway, but the jeep they are trying to start has no fan belt.  The genius asks them what they have on hand, and in the jeep they find a radio, an MRE, and a roll of toilet paper.  The genius suggests that they take strips of toilet paper and braid them together, because braiding a 3-fold strand increases the strength of the paper exponentially.  Now, I don't know whether you can actually use toilet paper to replace a fan belt in real life, but the point is that one alone is weak, two together is strong, and three (you, your friend/mate, and Jesus) together cannot be defeated.

I want to look at 3 relationships from Scripture, and show how they relate to our relationship with Jesus.

Moses and Joshua
The first pair of people I want to look at is Moses and Joshua.  You remember that Joshua shared Moses' vision of taking the Promised Land a full 40 years before the Israelite nation actually began defeating the Canaanite peoples and driving them out.  You will also recall that Moses was told by God that he could stand on the Mount and look across the Jordan River, but that he could not actually go.  It was Joshua that would have to lead God's people the rest of the way.  How many times the older leader must have counselled the younger man.  How Joshua must have looked up to his mentor Moses.  "Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him.  So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses." (Deuteronomy 34:9).

No doubt Moses had told Joshua about the time that God had commissioned him as the leader of His people, when He appeared to him in a burning bush.  Moses might have recounted how he knew it was God who spoke, because the voice had told him to remove his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground.  Did you know that after Moses died and the people had crossed over into Canaan, that Joshua had a similar experience? He, too, was commissioned by God to lead the people.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.  Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"  He replied, "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for His servant?" The commander of the Lord's army replied,"'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."  And Joshua did so. --Joshua 5:13-15

Not only did Moses and Joshua share a commission, but they also led their people through water.  Moses led the people through the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh's armies.  Joshua led the people through the Jordan River to approach Jericho's walls.  Both events signified a major change in their lives: Moses and the people went through the Sea on dry ground, changing from a nation of slaves to a nation of free men; Joshua led the people through the River on dry ground, changing from a nation of nomads to a people with a permanent homeland.  

Think about how this relates to us today.  Did Jesus meet each one of us face to face? Didn't He give us each a commission to carry out?  Didn't He lead us through the water of baptism to signify a change in us--while we had been slaves to sin, now we are free in Christ.  "So if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36).  After we were made one with him in baptism, were we not called to be conquerors? "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37).

Elijah and Elisha
The prophet Elijah was one of the most revered men in Israel's history.  In fact, every time a Jewish family prepares the Passover meal, to this day they always set a place for Elijah.  They believe that he will herald the coming of the Messiah, giving insight as to the events occurring throughout the history of the Jews, and to the Day of the Lord which is to come.  In Revelation, it talks about two witnesses that appear, prophesying and denouncing the Antichrist.  One of those witnesses is always thought to be Elijah.

Elijah and Elisha were companions.  At the end of Elijah's ministry here on earth, Elisha followed him to the very end.  Elijah asked him repeatedly to stay behind, but Elisha was determined to stay right beside him.

Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.  Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it.  The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.  When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?"  "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.  "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise, not."  As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.  Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more.  Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it.  "Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" he asked.  When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. (2 Kings 2:7-14)

Elisha went on to do great miracles in the land of Israel and of Judah.  He was able to do as much, and more, as his friend and mentor had done. It is very significant that he took up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah as he was taken up to heaven.

Again, think of what this might mean with regard to our relationship with Christ.  Doesn't Jesus ask us to walk very close to him at all times, even when the future is uncertain?  Didn't He say, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father." (John 14:12).  Didn't Paul tell us to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Like the cloak of Elijah which Elisha picked up and carried with him, didn't Jesus command us to take up our cross and follow Him?

Paul and Timothy
Paul was a church planter, a great evangelist.  Timothy was often by his side.  We see throughout the book of Acts where Paul and Timothy were together, sharing the gospel of Christ.  In fact, in six of his letters, Paul names Timothy as a co-sender (2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, both letters to the Thessalonians, and Philemon).  Timothy allowed himself to be circumcised by Paul, in order that his Greek ancestry would not offend the Jews to whom Paul was preaching (Acts 16:3).  When Paul established the church in Ephesus, he left Timothy there to pastor it, and to mentor them through some of the problems they had.  Yet later when Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he asked that Timothy join him there (2 Timothy 4:9, 21).  Timothy himself was imprisoned, and was subsequently released (Hebrews 13:23).  Paul likely died in prison, leaving Timothy (and others) to carry on the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Christ.

Paul gave Timothy this charge:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.  But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Is this not what Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission, when He told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, and to make disciples of all nations?  Doesn't it feel like we are already living in the age where men will not put up with sound doctrine, and have itching ears to hear teachers that suit their own desires?  Didn't Jesus warn us that we, too, might endure hardship for the sake of His Name? "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me." (Matthew 5:11).  "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." (James 1:2).


In the late 1980's, in the church where I met and married my wife, there was a trio of singers who came together for Friendship Sunday, and wove together three friendship songs, all sung together at the same time. The songs were "That's What Friends Are For", made popular at the time by Dionne Warwick; Friends Are Friends Forever, by Michael W. Smith, and the traditional hymn (the refrain sung slowly in the background) "What A Friend We Have In Jesus."  Each song sung separately was a great solo; but when they were all sung together, it made a rich, harmonious, powerful picture of how a spiritual mentor, a young protege, and the Holy Spirit can come together to become greater than their individual parts.

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

 And friends are friends forever If the Lord's the Lord of themAnd a friend will not say "Never"Cause the welcome will not endThough it's hard to let you goIn the Father's hands we knowThat a lifetime's not too longTo live as friends

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.