Twenty years ago, if you were serious about your faith, you did something countercultural by today’s standards: you found someone older and wiser, reached out to them and asked, “Will you mentor me? “ It was just understood. That’s how spiritual growth worked. Especially among those who feel called to God’s work.
That understanding is almost dead now.
Not completely, though. There are still a small number of Christians who ask more seasoned followers of Jesus for mentoring. But it’s become rare enough that we need to talk about it directly, because ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away.
In my podcast episode, “5 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mentor,” I talked about the mentors in my life and riffed on the five reasons to seek one out. In brief, those reasons are:
1) Inspiration
2) Instruction
3) Support
4) Insight
5) Adjustment
Having the right mentor who has many years of spiritual experience and insight, will spare you a great deal of wasted time, avoidable mistakes, and agony.
You can listen to the episode here.
Four Mentoring Tiers
Jesus gave us a particular model for ministry and mentoring.
1. One tier of His ministry was to the masses wherein He gave general ministry to the multitudes.
2. Another tier of His ministry was to 70 disciple who He sent out on a special mission.
3. A third tier of His ministry was to the Twelve. Jesus shared the mysteries of the kingdom with the Twelve and some women who Luke refers to as “The Women.”
4. Beyond that, there was the smallest tier of all. Peter, James, and John — three of the Twelve whom Jesus included in special cases.
Note that the 70, the Twelve, and the three (Peter, James, and John) were all present when Jesus ministered to the multitudes, but they received special ministry beyond what He gave to the masses.
I’ve reflected on the Lord’s four-tiered ministry model for many years.
Taking that as my model of ministry, here are four ways that I mentor people presently.
1. Mentoring for the Masses.
My 20+ books are for every Christian who wishes to have my best thinking on a topic.
In like manner, my blog posts are supplemental to the books, often dealing with current issues.
My blogs and books don’t duplicate each other. The content is different but complementary, except when I will occasionally post an excerpt from a book.
2. Mentoring for the 70.
My courses and podcasts are more personal. As Maya Angelou once said, “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”
In my podcasts, I speak on heavy and controversial issues that I don’t address anywhere else.
My weekly articles are also more personal. (You are getting one right now.)
3. Mentoring for the Twelve.
My main mentoring resource is The Deeper Christian Life Network.
In addition to that resource, each year I hold a mentoring mastermind for Christian pastors, preachers, and teachers called The Insurgence Experience.
If you’re a leader in the body of Christ, you’ll want to apply. I plan to hold another one next year, so apply now.
4. Mentoring for the three.
Out of the above group, I plan to assemble a small ministry team in the future (God willing).
It will probably consist of more than 3 people, but it will follow the same principle of Peter, James, and John.
Those who will be part of this team will have been part of The Insurgence Experience Mastermind. So if you have any interest, I invite you to apply.
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If these weekly articles have lit a fire in you, you’ll want to get the Reimagining Scripture, Prayer, and Discipleship Online Seminar. It’s a self-paced seminar packed with some of Frank’s most iconic conference messages, most of which that have never been released on the Internet. We’re talking about a complete reimagining of how you read the Bible, how you pray, and how discipleship actually works, not the hollow, program-driven version most of us grew up with. It includes never-before-released content, unreleased interviews, and eBooks you won’t find anywhere else. And here’s the best part: once you have it, you have it for life. No expiration date, no subscription, no rushing. Just deep, transformational content you can work through at your own pace, on your own time. If you’ve ever had that nagging sense that there’s more to the Christian life than what you’ve been handed, this seminar was built for that moment. Don’t let it pass you by—grab it at frankviola.org/rspd.
The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
Frank, you have been one of the strongest mentors in my life, through all of your materials that I have chewed on, taught, bought many, many books to give away, etc. So whether I’m picked to be in the group or not…I want to thank you for everything you’ve done to enlarge our capacity to see from a Kingdom perspective … His eternal purpose and ours here on earth.
HI Frank
Fan of your teacher 🙂 and thus your teaching.
I have one slight problem:- I don’t do (to be read as WANT) any thing Apple. Don’t ask why, couldn’t tell you rationally. Does this mean I’m excluded by default?
May God continue to bless you and feed your ministry.
You can subscribe via podbean or RSS feed or the other mediums. They are all on this page and also at https://www.frankviola.org/podcast
Hi Frank,
Two questions:
1. What can we do concerning your Podcasts if we don’t have iTunes or an iPhone? I thought the posts are part of your regular blog posts with a link to listen to it on the web.
2. Your “3” ministry team, is going to be APEST based or something different. If you don’t know or don’t wish to reveal it, no worries, just curious.
Thanks,
Jeff
You can subscribe to iTunes on any computer or smart phone. See https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/christ-is-all-frank-viola/id312389288
APEST is jargon that comes from a few people. I don’t use it or think in those terms. Here’s my take on what the New Testament refers to as “the ascension gifts” https://www.frankviola.org/2010/10/27/rethinking-the-five-fold-ministry/
In answer to your question, the “team” would consist of people who are serious about going deeper in Jesus Christ and who are interested in being part of a team that I’d assemble in the future who resonate with my particular message for the body of Christ, e.g., https://www.frankviola.org/about — people out of the masses, the 70, and the 12, so to speak. 🙂
This sounds great, Frank. Good clarification and focus. I hope to be a part of the 12 or maybe even the 3. 😉
Hi Frank, This is a great post as it helps to see where I fit in and how to effectively engage. It also doesn’t express an “all in” or “all out” approach that I feel from other ministries — such as I sometimes felt from my previous church experience. I appreciate your ministry and have learned much from it. Keep up the great work!