To Everything There is a Season

A time to learn, a time to teach.  A time to mentor, a time to be mentored.  A time to grow, a time to grow others.

Frequently the times overlap.

Last weekend I was blessed to attend a Beth Moore conference in Kansas City with my sister and sister-in-law (and 9800 other women).  But that's another post.  This post is about the WE, YOU, and THEY she taught about from I Thessalonians chapters 1 and 2.

• WE:  She extended the WE of Paul, Silvanus/Silas, and Timothy to the people of the church who are leaders, teachers, motivators of the other believers.  She calls them "fruit bearers" because they carry and support others in addition to bearing their own fruit.

• YOU:  She identified the YOU as christians in general.  People who are faithful to the Lord, learning and growing closer to Him in their walk.  They are "fruit bearing" because there is fruit in their lives of service to God--they are producing a yield for Him.

• THEY:  This last group is composed of those who have tasted the fruit exhibited by the WEs and the YOUs and they're attracted to the Truth as a result.  Members of this group might be either nonbelievers who are seeking or babes in the faith who are beginning to grow.

Beth shared an excellent study of this topic and I just keep thinking and applying its principles to my life and what I see around me.  It seems to me we tend to have extremes on either side of this mentoring practice.  On the one hand, there are those who were reprimanded for their need for milk at a time when they should have been teaching (Hebrews 5:12-14).  I wonder if the shortage of 50-70-year-old christian men and women who have grown to be giants in faith and wisdom through years of walking faithfully with the Lord is a phenomenon unique to our generation and culture.  I have many times considered the history of our culture as I sought Titus 2 women in my life and wondered what events in our country's past have contributed to their absence.

On the other hand, I have observed some who are immature (not of full age, as the KJV words it) and lacking constant practice and powers of discernment who (dare I suggest pridefully?) take it upon themselves to step into a mentor role.  "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly," says James in the first verse of chapter three.  This isn't to say that we should avoid teaching, I don't think, but that we should be discerning and humble, waiting for the appropriate season after we have experienced struggles and exercised appropriate discernment between good and evil before presuming to take on this role.

As I learn and grow in my own walk, I would even suggest that mentoring others is not a role we step into ourselves, but rather one into which we are invited--or even simply find ourselves.  In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit this is something I have learned the "hard way" as in the past I have prematurely assumed the role of mentor and I can see my failures in that endeavor.  How much better it is when a relationship naturally begins and evolves to a point that one person confides to the other how much she has learned and grown through their relationship even as that was not the express purpose of their interactions!  This honest relationship exhibits a purer motivation and manifestation of Christ's love and humble servant's heart.

I would still contend that we can each play different roles simultaneously in different areas of our lives.  There may be some areas of our lives in which we have great experience and growth in which we are able to minister to others, while at the same time facing a trial or experience in a different area for the very first time and need to seek wisdom from someone much younger or generally less experienced who has gone through a similar experience.  This study has reminded me to be both clay in the Potter's hands, willing to grow and be molded, and to be a tool, submitting to be used in the Master's knowing hand whatever the role He prescribes.