Mentoring New Leaders

Text: Acts 11:19-30

It is often joked by Christian college professors and pastors alike that seminary didn’t prepare me for that. JB Godfrey with BIMI once told the story about how he was getting ready to baptise a group of people in Africa. He was standing there in the river with his waders on and all the people had their robes on standing on the shore. Now usually pastors will baptise both men and women. Well, one of the candidates for baptism started walking toward him in the river and all of a sudden she whisked off her baptismal gown. You see where he was serving people didn’t want to get their clothes wet. Seminary definitely did not prepare him for that.

A bible college education, seminary education is so essential to the full time minster; but it has its limitations. Seminary education cannot give you the practical experience and the relational experience that a mentoring model of education can. I believe that the two put together can better train our young men for ministry.

But what about those who do not want to go into full time ministry. They have jobs. They can’t drop everything and move away to get an education. So are they to be left out of all ministry training?

We have already shown from Eph 4:11-12 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

That the role of pastors is to raise up men and women in the church for the work of the ministry. Every Christian is called to minister according to their spiritual gifts. Should there not be a method in place within the church to help them be better prepared for ministry? I think often times we hope that they will just casually catch on to what they need, but we do not train our people on purpose. As we think about this topic, it is helpful for us to define what ministry is.

Ministry is ...

The word minster in the bible comes from the same Greek word as deacon. Its basic meaning is to serve. When we talk about ministry, most American’s think of pastoring, full-time vocational ministry, but ministry is more than that. Ministry is anything we do to serve God and others in the Church. It can include preaching, it can include teaching a Sunday school class. It can include helping out with truth Trackers and Tiny trackers. It can even include working in the nursery. It includes deacons. It includes those who run the audio/visual system. It is service with a focus on serving God and others.

Most of the time, when we have a need in the church, we find the best already qualified person to do it. But the problem with such a system is that there is no opportunity for others to grow. So if the pastor is supposed to equip others for ministry, how do we do that?

Acts 11 gives us a sneak peak into the primary method for how this is accomplished: mentorship. A technical definition of mentorship is a relationship between two people where the individual with more experience, knowledge, and connections is able to pass along what they have learned to a more junior individual within a certain field.

1. Mentorships are relational- They develop a relationship between the mentor and the student. Students are better able to trust information when they know the person who is teaching them and see it in their lives.

2. Mentorship is developmental- Seminaries and Bible colleges have a major limitation. They are focused on the transfer of information and not the development of skills. Mentorship has an emphasis on spiritual formation in the life of the student and seeks a more integrated knowledge of the topic.

3. Mentorship is practical- It isn’t just focused on knowledge but activities and practices that the student needs. That joke about seminary didn’t prepare me for this usually applies to these types of situations.

The Example of Jesus

Mentorship is the primary pattern of training found in the bible. Think of the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus called 12 men to eat with him, sleep with him, travel with him, serve with him and learn from him. This wasn’t a formal seminary education is was a relational, practical and spiritually developmental way of training the first leaders of the church.

He called them to follow Him Matt 9:9 “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.” They lived life together. Mark 3:14 “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,”

He developed a personal relationship with them John 15:13-15 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

He shaped their thinking Luke 6:40 “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”

He modeled service for them John 13:14 “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

He gave them practical experience Mark 6:7 “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;”

The Example of Paul

Paul used this model primarily to train Timothy, Silas, and Titus although we will see a formal seminary setting in Acts 19.

Paul viewed them as his sons in the faith Phil 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”

Paul modeled behavior for them 1 Cor 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

Paul challenged them to mentor others 2 Tim 2:2 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

But today we are going to look at mentorship in the life of Paul’s teacher Barnabas.

The Example of Titus 2 :3-5

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

holiness and devotion to God

character

practical guidance on how to love their family

practical guidance on how to take care of their home

practical guidance for how to submit to their husbands

Background vs 19-24

A. The Need

The last two chapters were focused on Peter, but at the end of Chapter 11, we are again transition to focus on the ministry of the Apostle Paul. The last time we saw him, Barnabas had been involved in assimilated Paul into the life of the church. Paul was successful at preaching to the Jews in Damascus, but was chased out of the city. When he returns to Jerusalem, the church is afraid to accept him into their midst so Barnabas takes him under his wing, builds bridges with other people in the church and seeks to tear down their fears.

Somewhere along the line, Paul went to Tarsus his home town.

In Vs 19-20 Luke explains the situation. The gospel had gone out to the first Gentile convert Cornelius by the ministry of Peter, but sometime around the same time in a totally separate work not associated with the Apostles, the gospel begins to go out to another group of Gentiles.

After Stephens death and the persecution, the Jewish believers that were scattered travel to Phenice, Cyprus and Antioch. But notice what these every day believers were doing as they moved: preaching. These were not full-time pastors, these were not missionaries, these were not even deacons. They were just everyday people.

There are two words for preaching in these two verses. The first is λαλοῦντες which just means speaking. The second word is εὐαγγελιζόμενοι which means to share the gospel. These believers went about sharing the gospel. Gossipping the gospel everywhere they went. Most of them only preached to the Jews, but in Vs 20 we see that some of the believers from the more Hellenistic areas began to share the gospel with the Grecians. These are Greek speaking Gentiles getting saved.

Vs 21 Notice the church in this area began to grow but why did this happen. Average everyday people were preaching the gospel.

B. The Location

Vs 22 The church hears about what is happening and much like Peter went to confirm the work in Samaria, Barnabas is sent to confirm the work among the Gentiles. He travels all the way to Antioch. Antioch according to Josephus was the third most important city in the civilized world after Rome and Alexandria. It was a Gentile city, but it had a large Jewish population. It is very possible that this was Luke’s hometown and it features prominently in the early church. Antioch would later be known for it literalist interpretation of scripture and produced many great church leaders.

Vs 23-24 Barnabas sees what is going on, he gets involved but the work is too great for one man. The ministry of any church is too great for one man. God wants to raise up men and women who will serve and be leaders within the church. Vs 25 Because it is too much for one man, he decides to go get Paul out of Tarsus. The word seek in this verse implies he had some difficulty finding him. Some believe that Paul had been disinherited when he became a Christian so finding him became a problem.

Barnabas plan of Mentorship vs 25-26

Barnabas acknowledged his own need for help. This should be a great motivation to mentor. Many pastors don’t think they have time to do this kind of work, but they don’t have the time because they are doing all the work themselves. They create their own problem. So Barnabas takes the necessary step to go get Paul. It took time and effort to begin this type of ministry with Paul. And it is interesting that for quite awhile these two are always together in the book of Acts. But how do we see mentorship in the relationship between Barnabas and Paul?

A. Paul was joined to a qualified teacher- Barnabas was definitely a man to learn ministry from. He had already been used in so many ways.

He gave of his belongings to help the needs of the poor in the church

He assimilated Paul into the life of the church

He was a representative of the church to the new Gentile churches.

But Barnabas was not just a skilled teacher. He was a godly man. Barnabas was according to vs 24 a good man. This is the only time anyone in Acts is called a good man. He was filled with the Holy Ghost and a man of faith. God was using Barnabas. Mentorship should be between an experienced godly Christian and a less experienced growing Christian. You don’t place a carnal Christian in charge of a mentoring relationship. If you want to know how to build a house, you don’t go to a teacher, you go to a construction worker. If you want to know how to build a rocket, you don’t ask a stay at home mom. Barnabas was the right man to train Paul.

Barnabas didn’t just give Paul the theoretical knowledge, he modeled a lifestyle for Paul. Paul’s style of ministry is going to be drastically influenced by this man above all others.

B. Mentoring is intended to be done within the church- The church family ought to be involved in the life of growing these trainees. Church ministry is best taught by the church. This is a limitation for seminaries that are not local church oriented. But this work is part of the life of the church. It is a practical way to grow people within the church.

Churches are intended to be like nurseries that you plant trees in. While the trees are young seedlings or smaller growing trees, you nurture them and care for them. When they get to be a little more grown, the nursery sells them so they can go be planted somewhere else. The goal of the church is to grow Christians to be self-sufficient mature believers.

C. Mentoring takes time- Mentorship is not about degrees, it is about growth. Reproducing answers on a test does not mean that the truth has impacted you personally. Mentorship seeks to develop the individual and all individuals grow at different rates. We cannot expect all Christians to be in the same place spiritually in the church. You do not expect Levi to behave and act like Chloe. There is a large age difference between the two and Levi has a lot of growing to do still.

The Results vs 26-30

A. Believers were called Christians- prior to this point believers were called believers, saints, disciples, the church, followers, brothers and Nazarenes; but they had not been called Christians. The term Christians was primarily used in a negative sense to belittle them. The term means “ little Christs.” But think about the implications. Here was a church where the believers were so like Christ, that they were called little Christs. The fact that this description is placed here of all places seems to indicate that the ministry and mentorship of Barnabas and Paul had something to do with it. One of the results of a mentorship type ministry is that you better perpetuate a way of life, thinking, and ministry. It isn’t blind conformity, but because you have invested your life in showing rather than just teaching why we do certain things, trainees are more likely to follow in your steps.

B. The Church of Antioch become a supporting and sending church- A need is arising in the church of Jerusalem and the church of Antioch decides to send support. but who do they send? Paul and Barnabas. Later on we will see that Antioch was their sending church when they start out on their missionary work. This type of ministry allowed the church of Antioch to grow not just numerically, but spiritually to the point that they became a key player in Christianity and the spread of the gospel.

Conclusion

I’d like to tell you a story to illustrate why and how this type of ministry can be beneficial in the church. Back in the late 1700’s, a man named John Gano was saved. Back in the early Colonial days of America, Baptists could not get an education for a couple reasons. Usually, education was too expensive for the lower class of people who tended to be Baptists and prior to the Bill of Rights, Baptists were discriminated against in all of the original colonies except Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. So education had to be handled in a different way than most denominations traditionally handled it. John Gano himself had been mentored by a man named Isaac Eaton and so he took this model to train other young men in his churches. Gano would often spend hours talking to individuals one on one about their spiritual needs and instructing them in theology, and practice. When ever he traveled on preaching tours, he would take younger preachers with him whom he would give responsibilities to and opportunities for practice. But most of all he set a practical example of a godly, faithful, humble servant of the Lord for his trainees.

Of his trainees, Hezekiah Smith established 13 churches throughout Maine and New Hampshire. He also served as a chaplain closely associated with George Washington.