Overview
Christian mentoring is an invitation to work alongside another person in an environment of care, safety, love, and purposeful learning. Using a woodworking project as an illustration, Todd Grilliot explores 2 Timothy 2 and other records of counsel and leadership. The mentor serves the learner rather than controlling them, while the mentee receives counsel, develops faithfulness, and becomes able to help others.
Transcript
An Invitation to Learn Alongside Another Person
Thank you, so we’re going to look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. I recently invited a neighbor into my woodshop, a close neighbor, a friend I had met at a graduation party. I invited him in because he had a desire to learn woodworking and to build a table that his entire family could sit around. And upon doing this, I now had the responsibility to take care of him.
Number one, it needed to be a good experience for him and I needed to take care of him. His safety, his care was a priority being in my shop. And the second thing, a finished product that is functional and beautiful, a table that could fit all seven of them.
So this invitation was to work alongside each other so he could develop woodworking skills and we could produce a beautiful functioning table. And my skills, my knowledge increased more and more as well. That’s just the way it is.
When we give, when we counsel, when we mentor, we grow as well. So when inviting others in to gain knowledge and understanding in any area, the priority is their care. It’s not to showcase my ability, my workshop or tools, or the things that I’ve done.
It’s all about them. It’s about their learning. It’s about their comfort, their safety, their experience, their fun, etc.
The Priority Is the Mentee’s Growth and Safety
When my dad first showed me how to use a circular saw to cut a straight line, I was about seven or eight years old. Above all else, his priority was my safety. He didn’t want me to get hurt.
No harm. Yes, a straight line was the desired outcome. Didn’t happen that time.
But my well-being was his priority. No harm, no injury in any category. Mom would have been mad if I’d been missing one of these.
So in 2 Timothy 1-2, Paul addresses Timothy as his dear son. And then here in 2-1, it says, thou therefore my son, my son. This is an expression of the great care that Paul has for Timothy’s life.
His priority is the well-being, the care, the safety for the man that he had invited in to serve alongside in delivering the gospel of the mystery, the Christian’s true identity. Christ in you. This is the same care we have for one another.
Serving One Another in Love
Us. Each of us has been invited in to serve alongside one another. The priority is not me.
It’s not about showcasing my talent, my ability, my experiences. It’s the heart and care and concern we have for each other. That’s the priority.
And this is, you know, that’s what it says in Philippians 2. And it means, we esteem others better than selves. Look not every man on the things, on his own things, but every man on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
So first and foremost, when we’ve been invited in or we invite others in to serve alongside of us is our heart and approach. It’s our attitude towards one another. It’s just such care.
It’s such love. No hurt, no harm. We want to take care of each other.
Whatever we can do to take care of one another is what we do. Thou therefore my son. This is Paul’s expression for the care, the concern, the well-being of his work fellow, Timothy.
And then verse one concludes with be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. This is the how in our approach towards others. We’re strengthened when we remain, when we live, when we stand in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
We do this by remembering that this grace bestowed upon us has nothing to do with our ability or anything we’ve done, did, or will do. It is totally and completely because of the work of another man, Jesus Christ. No one has ever been good enough for the presence of Jesus Christ, yet we have him in us.
Love Does Not Insist on Its Own Way
That’s grace. So we’re strengthened when we remain in grace by remembering what he did for us and then extending that towards others. And extending grace is simply to love.
Now I’d like to read first Corinthians 13 5 from the Amplified. It, the love of God, is not conceited. That means arrogant and inflated with pride.
It is not rude or unmannerly. It does not act unbecomingly. Love does not insist on its own rights or its own way.
For it is not self-seeking. It is not touchy or fretful or resentful. It takes no account of the evil done.
It pays no attention to suffer wrong. In Ephesians 5, too, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and have given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. In Ephesians 4 32, be kind one to another, tender-hearted forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Being strong in grace takes the focus and pressure off of trying to improve the old man nature or perfecting the flesh. This reality in practice very recently through the fellowship with you, with this team, at our events and courses has lifted this massive burden off my shoulders. That burden? Me.
My ability. My preferences. My opinions.
Faithful People Who Can Teach Others
My judgments. They’re insignificant. My only burden is to remember that in him we live and move and have our being.
I’m not talking about my preference for white meat or dark meat. The context is where we draw our strength really to endure. What builds us up? What motivates us? What gives us energy? What gives us the ability to endure? If I was a baseball coach and one of my players hits a home run, am I excited because I’m the coach who coached him how to hit or I’m excited for the player for his success? Does that make sense? 1 Timothy 4.16 says, take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine.
But that part about take heed unto thyself, we’re to check ourselves. We’re to do a gut check on our motive. You know, is it to be great or is it for the greatness of others? Jesus Christ’s entire ministry was about God and the greatness of others.
And then verse two, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. The whole purpose, the whole purpose of counseling or mentoring is so that faithful men shall future be able to teach others also. That’s the whole purpose of counseling and mentoring.
So that the faithful shall be able to teach others also. It’s the purpose we were invited in. And it’s the same reason we invite others in.
And it has nothing to do with natural leadership ability, only faithfulness. If it were based on ability, God would have never chosen Moses who was not eloquent, slow of speech and slow of tongue. He said that I didn’t, but he was, he was faithful.
Biblical Counsel and Spiritual Mentoring
Moses was faithful. So committing the word to faithful men so that they will be able to teach also is exactly what a mentor or a counselor does. The word mentor is actually a proper name and its origin is from a character in Homer’s Odyssey who cares for Ulysses’ son.
I’ve never read it and I couldn’t pronounce the name of the son, but I think I got Ulysses right. So he was considered a wise counselor and dictionary.com defies mentor as a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. Mentor is not a character in the Bible, nor is the term mentor, but wise counsel is, as is the title counselor.
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law is the first person referred to as a counselor in the Bible. Exodus 18, 19, he says, hearken unto my voice. I will give thee counsel.
That’s the first usage of that word. Specifically in this context, Jethro is advising Moses so he doesn’t get wore out, but the ultimate purpose is in verse 20, so that the word of God could be taught and lived. It says, quote, thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do.
The parallels between these two verses in Exodus and 2nd Timothy 2, 1, and 2 are astounding, but there’s one major difference. The difference is our help and our strength is far better than what Moses had, the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Also in 1st Chronicles 27, verse 32, David’s uncle Jonathan is actually called a counselor.
He’s given that title, a counselor. He was a scribe and wise. Scribes in the Old Testament, they oftentimes were priests as well, and they were responsible for the preservation and interpretation of the law, and wisdom is the ability to know when to apply or act on knowledge.
Safety in a Multitude of Counselors
As a counselor, Jonathan spoke forth and advised on the word that he had preserved or that came directly from God. Spiritual counselors bring the word and the love of God into all tasks and situations. Spiritual counselors bring the word and the love of God into all tasks and situations.
I’ll close with a familiar verse. It’s Proverbs 11, 14, where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. I used to read this verse as someone that needs to tell people what to do and where to direct them for help in just about anything and everything.
I now read this as a mentee, as a person that needs safety or wholeness or deliverance, and I’m so thankful for your counsel from this team and the invitation to serve alongside in love as we continue to build this environment, its power, its love, and its wholeness. So thanks for allowing me to be on the team as a mentee and perhaps sometimes as a mentor, but most of all for committing the greatness of my true identity so that I too can teach others. Thanks.
Key Takeaways
- Mentoring invites another person into a safe, purposeful environment for learning and growth.
- The mentor’s priority is the mentee’s care, development, and successful participation.
- Love-centered mentoring does not insist on control or personal recognition.
- Faithfulness matters more than natural leadership ability.
- Healthy mentoring multiplies truth as faithful people become able to teach and serve others.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Christian mentoring?
Christian mentoring is serving alongside another person so they can learn, grow, receive counsel, and become equipped to help others.
What should a mentor prioritize?
A mentor should prioritize the mentee’s safety, care, understanding, participation, and spiritual growth.
What makes a person qualified to mentor others?
Biblical mentoring emphasizes faithfulness, love, sound counsel, and a willingness to serve rather than natural ability or status.
Scripture References
- 2 Timothy 2:1–2
- 2 Timothy 1:1–7
- Philippians 2:1–8
- 1 Corinthians 13:4–8
- Ephesians 4:11–16
- 1 Timothy 4:12–16
- Exodus 18:13–24
- 1 Chronicles 27:32
- Proverbs 11:14
Verification note: This page was prepared from a machine-generated transcript. Transcript wording, names, and Scripture quotations should be checked against the original audio and the intended Bible translation before publication.
