Gospel-Centered Mentoring Centers on the Means of Grace
#6 in the Gospel-Centered Mentoring Series
Coaching/mentoring programs and books, both secular and Christian, encourage coaches and mentors to avoid offering too much advice. If mentees develop their own goals and action plans, they are much more likely to follow through on them. Additionally, the secular coach’s philosophy is that you have no right to impose your own will, values, and morals on other individuals. The Christian coach/mentor’s philosophy is that the Holy Spirit guides mentees into His will for them.
How the Spirit Works
But how does the Holy Spirit guide the Christian mentee into his will for them? The Holy Spirit has certainly spoken directly to people at different times. He prompted Simeon to visit the temple when Jesus and his parents were there, having promised that Simeon would see the Christ child before he died (Luke 2:25-27). He instructed Philip to near the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:29). However, God never promised that this way of working would be normative for the Christian life.
The Holy Spirit ordinarily works through the means of grace, that is, the gospel in God’s Word, baptism, and communion. Paul writes, “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). Jesus proclaimed, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63). On the first Pentecost, Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). When Jesus instituted the Holy Supper, he said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:19–20). The Augsburg Confession states, “To obtain…faith God instituted the office of the ministry, that is, provided the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit, who works faith, when and where he pleases, in those who hear the Gospel.”1
Gospel-centered mentors always start with what they know: they know that the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith through gracious promises—heard, read, tasted, and felt. This is how he informs, motivates, and strengthens mentees to become wholehearted followers of Christ. So, gospel-centered mentors regularly fill mentees with the Spirit’s power and assurance through the gospel.
Discerning God’s Will
Many Christian mentors believe their job is to help mentees listen for the Holy Spirit’s unique vision, or destiny, for their lives—as if the Holy Spirit has a secret will that mentees must discover, lest their existence be less than meaningful. But what if they never truly discover that vision? What if they choose a calling that God did not destine them for? Will God bless that calling, also? Are they sinning? And how can they ever be sure that they are in the correct calling—aside from subjective assessments? That can be a heavy burden to dump on consciences, as if Christians cannot be fully obedient until they figure out God’s secret will for their lives.
So, what is God’s will for us? His primary will for us is described in 1 Timothy 2:4: “[God our Savior] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” More than anything else for us—our health, security, or productivity on earth—God wants us to be His children through faith in Jesus. This is his will for our salvation. Additionally, Jesus revealed his will succinctly in the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:35-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). This is his will for our sanctification: Love God, love each other, and love the world. Everything he would want us to do is neatly summed up there.2
These implications of God’s will are liberating for Christian mentees. God’s will for them is not some divine secret they must discover by wrestling with the Holy Spirit in prayer or through the mentor’s skill. In fact, within the generous boundaries of God’s will for them, there are many God-pleasing choices. Should the mentee get married or stay single? Can she love God, love other Christians, and love the world as a married person? As a single person? If the answer is “yes” to both options than both options fit within the will of God. Imagine God places three apples before you: one is MacIntosh, one is Pink Lady, one is Granny Smith. You say, “Which one should I choose? What is your will?” He says, “They’re all nutritious apples; choose one.” In the same way, it is possible to choose two different paths for your life, both in keeping with God’s will. Certainly, an omniscient and gracious God can and often does redirect his children (see Acts 16:6-10), but that does not imply that they made a wrong choice within the boundaries of his will.
On the other hand, God’s will for people has boundaries. A young Christian man felt trapped by obligations to his girlfriend and the child they had together. So, he consulted with his pastor: “I feel like it is God’s will that I do mission work. Doesn’t that trump my other relationships?” The pastor commended his desire to share the gospel, but then asked him how he could continue to love his girlfriend and child if he left them to do “God’s work.” Clearly it was not God’s will for him to abandon his family, no matter how noble his intentions. There is great freedom in God’s will but there are also boundaries; and freedom is sometimes limited by our previous choices and existing obligations. God’s will never contradicts itself.
It may be more helpful to think of God’s will for us as a large estate with boundaries than as a single trail through the estate with thorns and mosquitoes that plague you until you discover it. The gospel-centered mentor helps mentees explore the freedom of the estate and its boundaries so they can mature in God-pleasing ways. He/she helps mentees explore possibilities and discover new and/or better ways they can mature and serve Christ in their life realms within the boundaries of His will.
Next: Gospel-Centered Mentoring Embraces the Cross…
Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959. Print.
But what about Romans 12:2? “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” This does not add anything new to the threefold will for our sanctification, just the promise that a life transformed by the gospel (verse 1) will be able to apply God’s will faithfully. And what about 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4 and 5:16-18? “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable…Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” These are just logical applications of God’s will to love Him, love each other, and love the world through sanctified minds and behaviors.