Mentoring Is the Way to Brave Discipleship

I like to use words like Mentoring.  Does that word sort of stick in your mouth?  Give you a turn in your stomach?  Yeah, I get that a lot!

But who cares!  I tend to be controversial.  Do you ever feel that way?  Like the status quo isn’t working and you just want to challenge it?  Well, that’s me too!  It’s nice to meet you.  I bet we’ll be friends 😉

Oh wait, do I know you?  This might seem strange if we’ve never met… 

Hi, I’m Tiffany. 

Apart from writing this blog we may be strangers.  Honestly, I don’t know many strangers.  I love knowing your names and some of your stories (Drop me an email anytime!)  They inspire me to keep writing 😉

A while back I got sick and tired of modern Christianity.  I actually stepped completely away from it.

Do you ever feel like you want to walk away from it all?

All the hypocrites, all the crazy confusing bits of the bible and lets not start about the politics of church business meetings!

Yeah, me too!

I walked away from the church.  At 19 I did a 180 and started living life like my lost friends – who all seemed to be having a blast… seemed to be…  Yep, I was one of those troubled Millennials’ leaving the church that you’ve heard tell about 😉

But something amazing happened.  I call it Brave Discipleship!

Some ladies from church – the one I walked away from – reached out to me.  They loved me anyway.

• I wasn’t living their way.
• No one would call me a Christian. 
• But. They. Didn’t. Care.
  • They sent me cards and kept pursuing me throughout that time.

When I came back to God – not the church mind you… God, they embraced me with open arms.  They are Mentors that I hold onto with my life.  Mentoring was just a way of life for them.  Hospitality – with lots of grace – pouring in as much scripture as they thought I could handle!  I praise God for them often!  

I mean, what would my life look like today without them?  Do you have anyone in your life like that?

Fast forward a few years.

I dug into the Bible and learned about what Jesus said the church should be.  You could say I had an infectious passion to share that information.  I Mentored ladies continuously – weather they knew it (or liked it) or now!  I would not have called it mentoring at the time, I just wanted to know them and love on them.  Not much changed there 😉

• Did they know my Jesus or just have a religious experience?
• Where they reading their bible very often?
  • Did they even know how to read their bible?

I can’t tell you how many dusty King James Version’s sat on their shelves… and they had no earthly idea how to understand that old English language!  I’ll try not to pull out that soap box!  You’re welcome.

I mean really, how can you be expected to learn about Jesus if you can’t understand the language… oh, sorry… putting the soap box away before I offend someone.  😉

We would just start wherever they were and work through the basics of living for Jesus.  I am always emphatic that this kind of Christianity (if we have to call it that) is not about religion – It’s about a Relationship.

(PS.  The graphics in this post come from Sue Donaldson’s site)

Ephesians 4:14 God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love – like Christ in everything.

Back to that famous person… have you read much about Him?

Jesus did not faun over the religious leaders of His time.  Now, He certainly practiced His faith.  He was a Jew of all Jews. A perfect example of what it looks like to live for God.  But He put no stock in their religious customs -where they did not line up with God’s word.

Anyway.  Jesus was always actively Mentoring others!

He was always with a small group of people – pouring into their lives.  That is the ultimate example of Mentoring.

I love that those people – the 12 disciples (even the 3 in His inner circle) were nothing special!  They were a hot mess really.  Yet, Jesus took them where they were and lead them to a place they never imagined!

Feels’ daunting doesn’t it.

I may say WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) but do I really think I can do what He did?  He was God in flesh for goodness sack.  Jesus did many things I feel like I could never do!

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What if I told you there is a short little book – a great Mentoring Resource that could give you everything you need to start Mentoring the way Jesus did -today!?!?!?!?

Interested right?

I was asked to be part of this book launch and let me tell you I was blessed!

Table Mentoring: A Simple Guide to Coming Alongside by Sue Moore Donaldson is a tiny little 84 page book.  Only 50 of them are chapters. The rest of the book is FREE resources to help you start Mentoring!

I actually read the book in 1 sitting.  It is simple, yet challenging.

“Mentoring, at a table or not, needs to be part of every believer’s life.” – Challenging!

Or how about this quote from the book?

“If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded.”

We’ve all learned something we can pass on to someone behind us on the path!  A hand to help them keep pressing on when discipleship seems hopeless!

“The most important aspect of mentoring is strengthening another’s walk with God.” – You can do that!  

If you feel like Mentoring is too much for you – pick the book up and be encouraged.  You can read 6 chapters.  

Are we face to face friends?  I’ll gladly lend it to you 😉 if it’s not lent to someone else… which it is right now 😉

What’s stopping you from mentoring someone today?

Begin praying that God will show you who!

Pray He will give you a brave boldness to step into this kind of exponential Discipleship!

in HIM,