Mentorship stems from God and His creative and sustaining work for and with humanity. While God could instantaneously speak into existence His desired outcome of history, He instead allows humanity to work it out (Phil. 2:12-13), so to speak, through time, personalities, and particular activities.
Take the Bible, for instance. God used multiple authors with distinct personalities to reveal His will to us over time. He could have given us His Word through one person, but instead, He chose myriad individuals and guided them by the Holy Spirit.
It follows that God’s ways are mysterious yet intimate, which leads us to our first point.
- A theology of mentorship begins with God enabling humanity, as His instrument, to participate in accomplishing His will through space and time.
Another aspect of mentorship relates to God’s role as the Teacher. God tells David in Psalm 32, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” David’s responsibility was to follow God with an open heart to receive insight into His will. Consequently, David would not be “as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check.”
God is the fount of knowledge, the spring of understanding, and the source of wisdom. For that reason, Elihu says to Job, “Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a teacher like Him? “Who has appointed Him His way, and who has said, ‘You have done wrong’? Therefore, mentorship embraces and seeks to “remember that you should exalt His work, of which men have sung.”
As we have just seen, God guides His people according to His will, which leads to our second point.
- A theology of mentorship builds upon the premise that God is the Teacher par excellence.
A final aspect of a theology of mentorship is humanity’s particular role as a learner. It’s no wonder then that the author of Proverbs indicates, “Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.” Learning, however, must be distinguished between learning from a pragmatic standpoint and learning from a biblical standpoint.
Pragmatic learning seeks a truth that works. It’s utilitarian, empirical, and formulaic at its core. Therefore, pragmatic learning leads to skepticism and the exaltation of experience. On the other hand, learning from a biblical standpoint promotes learning that begins with “the fear of the Lord” because it believes that “the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Accordingly, biblical learning implies a relationship with God that leads to the exaltation of His name on the earth (Habakkuk 2:14).
Thus, mentorship must rise above that which can be measured to a place where the fear of the Lord reigns, and God is praised, which leads to our final point.
- A theology of mentorship stands on the foundation of true learning that begins with the fear of the Lord and leads to the worship of God.
God, prepare us to mentor others according to Your will and ways. Amen.
Next post, I will share thoughts on a guide to mentorship.
— August 17, 2023