Selecting Mentors with One Life in Mind by Buck Jacobs
1. Intimacy with God
2. Commitment to a godly marriage
3. Commitment to godly parenting
4.
A proven history of fruitfully ministering the truth in live to others
5. Aware of the dangers of materialism and models
active resistance to excessive acquisition
6.
Displays self-discipline
7. Commitment to lifelong learning
Each quality listed above requires
that we intentionally focus our attention on the life of the mentor. These qualities are directly related to
fundamental spiritual perspectives and values.
While we might instead select someone simply based on their apparent
accomplishments, there’s good reason to begin with these basic Biblical
characteristics. To clarify, let me provide
an example of where we’re going with this as it applies to our work and/or
career.
I once had the privilege of meeting
Max DePree, the retired CEO and Chairman of Herman Miller Corporation, one of
America’s most admired companies. After
we were introduced, Mr. DePree asked me what I did. I replied, “I teach Christians to integrate
their faith into their businesses.” Mr.
DePree paused and then said to me, “Don’t you have that exactly backwards,
Buck? Isn’t our faith the center of our lives? And shouldn’t we be bringing all things to our
faith, rather than vice-versa? We’ll be
Christians long after we aren’t businessmen.”
He, of course, was right on! For
a Christ-follower, Jesus and our faith is
the center of our lives. All other
relationships or activities should be conformed or viewed through our
relationship to Christ, rather than in any way driving changes to our
relationship with Him. For most 21st
century Christians this is very radical thinking. We’ve been culturally trained to believe
that we’re gradually and inexorably progressing toward a secular public square
where we can’t mix faith with business, politics, or anything else outside of
our homes and churches. This nonsense
only serves to legitimize the world’s accusation of hypocrisy against many
Christians. A hypocrite is one who professes to believe in one standard but
lives according to another. How tough is
it to spot such hypocrisy among Christians in business?
Why is this the case? The fact is that the only part of our career with
any lasting value to us is that which has eternal
significance. Our businesses are our
unique mission fields. Our ultimate
success will be measured not by how financially rewarding they are, but by how
faithful we’ve been in allowing Christ to live through us as we lead and
operate each day. All the toys and shiny
things of this world will lose their value to us completely and forever the
moment we draw our last breath. Only
those things that we’ve done that have value to Jesus will accompany us through
His judgment and into ETERNAL LIFE! Therefore,
only those mentors that understand life from a Biblical perspective can be of
real value to us in the true ‘big picture.’ This isn’t to say that we can’t learn practical
skills or be taught worthwhile things by ungodly people. Of course we can. But we must use godly discernment. Many have been led astray by leaning their
ladders against the wrong wall and climbing towards a faulty understanding of
success.
Scripture says, “Seek first the
Kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33) and “Blessed is he who seeks NOT the counsel of the
ungodly…” (Ps1:1). In the most basic
terms, our earthly lives are preparation for our eternal lives. Therefore, our mentors should reflect those
values and qualities that support the big picture, combining both spiritual
maturity and practical experience. Is it
hard to find men and women who combine both? Sure. Like
most things truly worth having, the search will take effort. But is it worth the effort? In just a wink-of-the-eye in eternal terms
(i.e., 1, 100, or 1000 years) we’ll know for sure that it was! As the old poem says, “Only ONE LIFE, ‘twill soon be passed, only what’s done for Christ will
last.”
The best mentors in my life have
been men who love God. Some have had
great business skills and experience, some haven’t. The amazing thing is that some of the very
best business advice I’ve received came from those who had the least business
experience but the best ability to hear from God. Should we be surprised? Think about it. Who knows what we really need and what choices
are consistent with our eternal good?
If this all makes sense to you and
you’d like to find God’s mentor(s) for you, start by asking Him. He already knows just who and where they are
and how you can connect with them. Ask
Him! Then watch your life and business
begin to align in ways that hold great eternal promise.
Labels: Buck Jacobs, C12 Group
