{"id":847,"date":"2021-07-07T08:29:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=847"},"modified":"2021-07-07T08:29:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:29:47","slug":"generation-to-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/07\/generation-to-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Generation to Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom.<\/em>

Author Ben Patterson describes an experience that has been common to many Westerners, especially missionaries, when they arrive at the edge of dense Amazon rain forests and ask for directions.

\u201cI have a compass, a map, and some coordinates,\u201d they will say.  Inevitably a villager will respond, \u201cLet me take you there.\u201d  The visitor will then say, \u201cNo, just tell me how to get where I need to go.  All I need are good directions.\u201d

\u201cNo,\u201d says the villager, \u201cI will take you there myself.  You must follow me.\u201d

Most people who grow up in Western cultures appreciate the self-guiding blessings of our technological age.  We savor handbooks, GPS, and Google Maps \u2013 \u201cGuidance for Dummies.\u201d  After all, as long as the compass is in the palm of my hand, I\u2019m still in control of the trip. 

But God has made us in such a way that virtually everything worth knowing in this world can be discovered only by means of relationships with other people. 

We don\u2019t so much need a set of directions to make our way through life.  We need a guide<\/em>. 

The Bible is sometimes treated as a kind of Homo Sapiens<\/em> owner\u2019s manual, akin to the 350-page instruction book that typically comes with your new computer (also known as the least-read book in North America).  Yes, there are a few special people who actually enjoy exploring every page of their computer\u2019s specifications.  But most of us yearn for a digitally savvy friend to sit beside us and say, \u201cHere\u2019s the power switch.  Now let\u2019s look together at your screen.\u201d    

Most people acquainted with the Old and New Testaments would say that Proverbs comes closest to having the look and feel of an \u201cinstruction manual\u201d for daily spiritual living.  It presents itself as a curriculum for the training of future leaders \u2013 royal sons in particular. 

But we must not overlook the essential way in which the life lessons of this book are imparted.  They are mentored<\/em>.    

\u201cMy son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding\u2014 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.\u201d (Proverbs 2:1-5)

This is a dad telling one of his children, \u201cIt\u2019s a jungle out there.  If you try to cut through those vines all by yourself, you\u2019re going to get lost.  I know where the secret paths are.  Walk with me<\/em>.\u201d 

From beginning to end, Scripture upholds the value of passing the torch from one spiritual generation to another.  Moses mentors Joshua.  Elijah walks with Elisha.  Elizabeth bestows the gift of friendship and encouragement on Mary.  The apostle Paul reproduces his own commitment to Christ in the lives of Epaphras, Titus, Phoebe, Silas, Epaphroditus, Priscilla, and dozens of other men and women that we know from his various letters.

How do you become a wise person?  Hang out with a wise person.  How do you become a disciple of Jesus?  Keep company with at least one other disciple of Jesus.

This doesn\u2019t happen through a program.  We don\u2019t need Reverend So-and-So\u2019s Seven Steps to Spiritual Success.  Francis de Sales, one of Christianity\u2019s most notable teachers of the last 500 years, wrote, \u201cDo you seriously wish to travel the road to devotion?  If so, look for a good [person] to guide and lead you.  This is the most important of all words of advice.\u201d  

What makes a great mentor?

We don\u2019t have to be experts, gurus, therapists, or theologians.  All we have to be is friends who are serious about helping each other know the Lord. 

Here’s where turning to the New Testament can help shine light on Proverbs.  One sentence from Paul\u2019s hand, more than any other, helps us comprehend what\u2019s at stake in one-on-one spiritual mentoring.  In 2 Timothy 2:2 he writes:  \u201cAnd what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.\u201d  If we look closely at these words, we can see five discipling generations.

First, there\u2019s Timothy.  He\u2019s the \u201cyou\u201d in this sentence.  We know that Timothy was initially a raw, painfully shy recruit, but that he gradually grew into the role of Paul\u2019s prime helper. 

Second, there\u2019s Paul himself:  \u201cWhat you have heard from me<\/em>.\u201d Timothy didn\u2019t learn how to follow Jesus by taking a course at a local community college and then memorizing his notes.  He grew up in his life with God by walking alongside Paul.

But where did Paul pick up the life lessons of spiritual wisdom that he passed along?  That heritage was received from \u201cmany witnesses\u201d who had taken the time to invest in Paul.  That\u2019s the third generation (although chronically it came first).  Theologically we do not re-invent the wheel.  Helping others grow means guiding them along the pathways of previous generations.  Good news always reaches us from someone else\u2026on its way to yet another someone\u2026and we are accountable for making sure the whole message is passed along intact. 

Fourth, Paul tells Timothy he needs to entrust these teachings to faithful people.  In Greek the word \u201centrust\u201d means making a secure run to the bank to deposit a treasure.   Discipling another person is not doing a \u201cdata dump\u201d into an unusually receptive brain.  Disciples are not widgets.  Paul knew Timothy and he loved him, and Timothy was now to invest in the same kind of relationships with others.

That brings us, fifth, to the truly decisive phrase in 2 Timothy 2:2: who will be able to teach others also.  <\/em>Paul, who has been resourced by faithful witnesses, pours into Timothy, who\u2019s doing the same thing with a few others \u2013 with the key proviso that Timothy must find a way to carry out this mission so that the chain will not be broken \u2013 to ensure that the fourth generation will know how to raise up a fifth generation.

Proverbs is a book about passing the precious cargo of wisdom from parents to children, from teachers to students, from friends to friends, from neighbor to neighbor.

When the Holy Spirit supervises that process, the lessons often go deep into our hearts.

For two years during college, Mary Sue and I were under the influence of a man named Charlie Greene.  Charlie never grew tired of asking a particular question.   No matter what the circumstances \u2013 no matter what joys or disappointments or mid-course corrections had come into our lives \u2013 he would always ask, \u201cWhat have you learned from it?\u201d  Charlie cultivated the attitude that God is always at work, and that every situation is an opportunity to trust him more deeply. 

We haven\u2019t seen or talked with Charlie Greene since the spring of 1974, but that question is still bearing fruit in our lives.  And for almost five decades we’ve had the chance to share it with others.

That\u2019s the power of mentoring.

Who are you walking with today who\u2019s teaching you how to live?

And who is learning how to live today simply because they\u2019re walking alongside you<\/em>? 
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. Author Ben Patterson describes an experience that has been common to many Westerners, especially missionaries, when they arrive at the edge of dense Amazon rain forests and ask for directions. \u201cI have a compass, a map, and some coordinates,\u201d they will… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[129,269,123],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-discipleship","tag-mentoring","tag-proverbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}