When I was growing up my dad believed that he could do any home repair that a repairman could do, but cheaper. He converted a food pantry into a half-bathroom. He built a huge sliding-door cabinet to replace the food pantry. He spliced up one telephone line so that every room could have a phone, including the half-bathroom. He retiled the shower walls, but mixed up some of the tiles. He repainted the inside of the house, but accidentally spilled a whole can of paint on the carpet. It was during those times my dad would ask me to help. For the most part I didn’t got to do a lot of the fun construction stuff but I did learn how to put everything away and get him a can of diet Pepsi. But every once in a while I would get to use the tools. He showed me how to use a hammer, drill, screwdriver, wrench. He would consistently yell along the way, but I still learned.
Mr. Yoshida taught me sleight-of-hand magic at the magic store on Alakea Street. When I got my driver’s permit, my Uncle John taught me how to drive, giving me tips and tricks on how to be a safe driver. My computer teacher, Mr. Ikei, took extra time to teach me BASIC computer language and then let me take home a TRS-80 computer during the winter break. Barbara Norfleet taught me how to tell a story at the University of Hawaii. Throughout my life I’ve had mentors, those who were willing to teach me some type of skill but at the same time something about character – honesty, timeliness, perseverance, teamwork.
We will all need mentors. Why? Because we don’t have all the time in the world to learn everything we need to know by ourselves. So God brings along certain people at the right moment to teach us skills and character traits that will be necessary later on. What happens when we don’t have mentors? Our growth is stunted and our primary teacher will be consequences from mistakes rather than wisdom from those who have already made those mistakes.
A disciple will need many mentors before he/she becomes a leader. The discipleship phase is the training ground for a believer to learn the basics of one’s faith as well as the ability to serve with the right heart. God will bring along the right mentor at the right time to help a disciple grow.
My first small group leader was Mr. Lee. I was a new believer, still in high school, with a hunger to learn the Bible. Every Thursday night a few high school students would gather at Mr. & Mrs. Liu’s house in Kaimuki for Bible study. Mr. Lee would take us through the book of John, step by step. As he did, he mentored me on how to study the Bible. Then the Liu’s would feed us with a delicious homecooked meal. I remember one night I had a question about the truthfulness of the Shroud of Turin. Using Scripture, Mr. Lee showed me how the Shroud of Turin could not have been Jesus’. That ability to use Scripture to defend the Christian faith began a lifelong study of Scripture. God brought a mentor at a critical time in my life to teach me a skill.
God will also use a mentor to ask the hard questions. When I graduated from high school I had a Christian girlfriend. At that time Mike Palompo was a mentor who saw I was making my girlfriend more important than Jesus. He asked the hard question: would I be willing to give up everything for Jesus? I knew what the right answer was but I wrestled with it for some time. In the end, I knew I had to give up my girlfriend in order to fully follow Jesus.
A disciple needs to have mentors who will ask the hard questions. If you surround yourself with people who only approve what you are doing, those who are “yes” people, you will not grow. If you only have “yes” people in your life, you run the risk of doing things you should not be doing and you are setting yourself up for failure. You need people who are not afraid to ask the tough questions of why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the need for mentors in a disciple’s life in order to be a good leader.
Questions to Think About:
As far back as you can remember, who were your early mentors and what did they teach you?
Who are your current mentors? Think carefully. They may not know you personally, but they still mentor you.
© Gary Lau 2013
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