All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95), published by The Lockman Foundation

One of the greatest needs among the saints today is for older men to reach out to young Christians, to encourage them, to guide them, and to counsel them. Among American Christians, there is a multitude of confused, deceived, misguided, and wayward young believers who regularly come into contact with older brethren, but have no meaningful relationships with them. Where are the men and women of God who have concern and affection for their fellow church attenders in their twenties? Where especially are the men of God who have such a concern for the glory of Jesus that they’re willing to carefully invest time, energy, and conversation in the young men they see alone among their congregation?

The neglect of caring for, talking to, and mentoring young men is a destructive plague in our western Christianity. The Scriptures give older believers no excuse for their selfish complacency about the intellectual, moral, and spiritual condition of their young brethren. The body of Christ is a family, so why do so many seasoned Christians treat their brethren as if they’re mere participants in some organization or religious rituals? My brethren, these things ought not to be this way! Let us turn to the Scriptures to see how we truly relate to each other in Christ, and how the mature believers are to reach out and mentor their youthful brothers and sisters.

The need for mentorship shouldn’t only be self-evident, but should also be obvious from Scripture. One of the hallmarks of Christianity is discipleship, since the Lord Jesus was the first to establish this practice. When He lived His life, He didn’t merely teach and do miracles, but He began His service by calling sinners to literally follow Him. Why did He do this? Not only to teach them, but to show them who He was, and how to live a life pleasing to God.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He essentially ordered the apostles to do the same things that He had done before His death. The most important of these works was to “make disciples of all the nations” (Mt. 28:19). In commanding this, He wasn’t only telling them to turn people into disciples of Him, but also of themselves. Why would this be necessary? Because again, the way of godliness isn’t only taught, but is caught.

We see the practice of mentoring disciples all through the Book of Acts, notably with Paul. He made disciples of himself when he first preached, and then disciples of two special men later on in his service. Further, Paul calls his audience in a few of his letters to imitate him. And more instructively, he recounts his mentoring of the Thessalonians in his first letter to them. Finally, he gives explicit instructions to Timothy, Titus, and older women to mentor less mature believers.

Considering all of the New Testament teaching, it’s imperative that we western believers today follow the examples of Jesus and the apostles in mentoring younger Christians, so we can teach them “to observe all” that the Lord commanded us to do (Mt. 28:20).

Jesus the First Disciple-Maker

Although it’s usually obvious to Christians that Jesus was the Pioneer to make followers of Himself, it’s worth analyzing exactly what this entailed. The first thing to note is that He didn’t wait for people to come to Him. Rather, He took the initiative in seeking people to be His disciples. Although He had special authority as God’s Son, we can still take this practice and apply it to ourselves. He didn’t merely do this out of His messianic authority, but because He had compassion on sinners like those who would later become His apostles. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, and He took upon Himself the responsibility and suffering of being their Shepherd.

Before we go any further, let’s look at one of the accounts of Jesus’s calling of His first disciples:

“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” (Mt. 4:18-19)

The next enlightening aspect of Jesus’s calling of these men is that His purpose in leading them wasn’t simply so they could learn, but so that they could teach others to follow Him. This is what He means when He promises them that He’ll make them “fishers of men.” Having followed the Lord, they were then to persuade more people to follow Him.

As for the actual process of the disciples following Jesus, there are a few truths that we can apply to our own discipleship today. First, it’s no small thing that the disciples literally followed Jesus physically. In so doing, they were able to live with Jesus, and to observe most of His behavior. Not only did this give them proof that He was the sinless Son of God, but He also was able to show them how they should act in specific situations. And His perfect, righteous, behavior, was seared into their minds, since they followed Him for at least a couple of years. But the basis of this relationship wasn’t simply teacher to students, but of older brother to younger brothers. The Lord didn’t treat His disciples simply as workers in an apprenticeship, but as His own family. Thus, His teaching of them wasn’t just intellectual, but grounded in His deep love and affection for them. Lastly, and most obvious, is the fact that Jesus verbally taught His disciples for a long time, and commanded them to imitate Him. In addition to showing them how to live, He also explained why they were to live this way.

The Apostles as the Exemplary Disciple-Makers

As most Christians know, Jesus didn’t leave His apostles to keep His teaching and living to themselves, but specifically ordered them to impart this teaching and way of life to more people. The famous “Great Commission” passage records the Lord as telling His apostles to “make disciples of all the nations” (Mt. 28:19). Although most believers read this as saying “make disciples of Jesus,” this isn’t the Lord’s primary meaning. What He was directly telling the apostles to do was to make disciples, or followers, of themselves. By doing this, they weren’t going to just teach what Jesus taught, but to show with their own lives how God’s people should live.

Luke speaks in this very way when he writes of Paul’s first evangelistic service in Damascus. Narrating Paul’s danger and escape from the city, he says,

“. . . but their [his enemies’] plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night . . .” (Acts 9:24-25)

Luke clearly calls these recent converts to Christ Paul’s disciples, or followers. The reason is that they were following Paul’s teaching, which he had received from the Lord. Later in Acts, we see both John Mark and Timothy literally following Paul. And Paul’s initiation of Timothy’s discipleship with him is worth highlighting. This is how Luke describes the beginning of their close relationship:

“And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him . . .” (Acts 16:1b-3a)

Thus began Timothy’s missionary service. But notice again the initiator of the relationship. Paul didn’t wait for Timothy to come to him, but Paul took the first step and invited Timothy to follow him in his missionary journeys.

Later in his service, Paul urged the Philippian assembly to

“. . . join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” (Phil. 3:17)

So, Paul clearly wanted the brethren under his care to imitate him, as he imitated Jesus. But he also called them to pay careful attention to those who lived their daily lives “according to the pattern you have in us.” Thus, this principle of discipleship wasn’t intended to end with the apostles, but to continue down to the present day. If we’re to be faithful followers of the Lord, we must be faithful imitators of the apostles, insofar as we’re able. But our discipleship doesn’t stop with following, but must eventually enable us to lead others in following Jesus. The question is, how do we do this? Again, Paul gives us a great example in himself, and his fellow missionaries.

The Apostles’ Mentoring of the Thessalonians

In Paul’s recounting of his early service of the Thessalonians, he provides a detailed description of his and co-apostles’ mentorship and discipleship of the newborn Thessalonian Christians. The ways in which he portrays his care of them serve as excellent examples for how we, as more mature believers, should mentor less mature brethren:

“Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us . . . just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thess. 2:8, 11)

In these verses, Paul describes the affection, the explanation, and the aim of discipleship. First, as I pointed out with Jesus, Paul’s mentoring of these young brethren wasn’t done simply out of duty, but out of delight. The Thessalonians were fond and dear to Paul, so he didn’t only speak to them, but shared his life with them. This obviously means he befriended them, and spent significant time with them. In other words, he treated them like his family, and spoke to them as such.

Second, he details how he spoke to them. Three terms for godly speech are used by Paul. The first one is the general word for encouragement. It simply means to invitingly speak to someone in a way that will help them to continue or grow in right thinking and living. Second, Paul uses the word for “comforting” or “consoling.” This is the term for speaking gentle and healing words to someone who’s hurting. Finally, he says that he was “imploring” them, or literally “testifying.” This refers to urgent command in the sight of God. But, most importantly, notice that Paul and his fellow apostles were exercising these services to “each one” of them. Paul isn’t referring to group sermons, or Bible lessons, but to personal, one-on-one, conversation. This is why we know that he’s talking here of mentoring and discipleship, rather than formal teaching or preaching. Moreover, as we just saw, Paul’s mentoring was familial, since he says that they spoke to the Thessalonians “as a father would his own children.” Paul felt a fatherly responsibility and affection for these believers, and he acted accordingly.

Lastly, Paul explains the aim of his mentoring by explaining that the goal of the apostles’ fatherly communication was that the Thessalonians would “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls [them]” (v. 12). What does it mean to walk worthy of God? In this passage, he describes it as living “devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly” (v. 10). So, all of the apostles’ godly speech and interactions with the Thessalonians were geared toward helping them to be as faithful to God as possible.

Do You Imitate the Apostles in Following and Leading Brethren?

It’s clear from the teaching of the New Testament that usually fruitful Christian living and spiritual growth will only come from believers being mentored by, and mentoring their brethren. So, the question is, do you have godly examples in your life? Are you seeking to learn from more mature believers how to become more like Jesus?

If you have less mature brethren in your life, are you seeking to teach and mentor those whom you can? Are you imparting your learned wisdom and knowledge to those who are in need of it? Are you treating your brethren like your family members, and affectionately doing all you can to help them to learn to walk increasingly worthy of the God who calls us into His kingdom and glory?

What are you planning on doing this week (outside of the Sunday gathering) to encourage, warn, counsel, correct, or teach a brother or sister? You can be sure that you have a brother or sister in your circle that needs your help or encouragement.