What Makes Mentoring "Gospel-Centered"?
#4 in the Gospel-Centered Mentoring Series
Many Christians immediately equate “wholeheartedness” with obedience. To them, a wholehearted Christian is an obedient one. But is that all that “wholehearted” implies: a Christian who is more moral today than she was ten years ago? While obedience is one aspect of wholeheartedness, it is only one aspect. While wholeheartedness is not less than obedience, it is certainly more.
Rest in Christ Fully
In Colossians 1:19,20,27, 28, Paul writes:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross…To [the Lord’s people] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Paul says that his goal for the Colossians and all other Gentiles was to present them “fully mature in Christ.” “Mature” is teleios, which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew TaMiM; it can also mean “complete” or “wholehearted.” If we are trying to help Christians become wholehearted, we must continually proclaim Christ to them (v. 28),[1] who is our hope of glory (v. 27). He is the one who reconciled us hopeless rebels to a holy God through his blood shed on the cross (vv. 20-22). Paul says this message leads Christians toward wholeheartedness. This is not a message of obedience but of grace; it is the core of our faith.
Near the end of his gospel account of Jesus’ life, John writes, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31). At the beginning of his gospel account, Dr. Luke writes, “…I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3b,4). John and Luke both wrote biographies of Jesus so their readers would know with certainty that He is the Savior of the world and would have eternal life in him. Wholehearted believers are those who know with certainty—not just in theory or with perpetual timidity or constant doubt—that Jesus is their Savior so they can rest in him fully.
Because the unholy trinity—the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh—continually attacks the faith of believers, it is quite easy for them to question the love of their Savior and their exalted status with him. They need regular reminders that they can rest confidently in Christ (Matthew 11: 28-30). And as they incorporate this gospel truth into every realm of their lives, they become more wholehearted; they learn to rest fully in Jesus. That is the first key aspect of a wholehearted life, that is, “baking” Jesus into every realm of your life.
And this is a key aspect of Gospel-Centered mentoring. The message of the gospel is not incidental to mentoring and the Christian life, but essential to it. It is not the starter for the Christian engine, but the fuel that keeps our faith running. As Pastor Tim Keller used to say: the gospel is not the “ABCs” of Christianity, but the “A-to-Z” of Christianity. In fact, a believer cannot become truly wholehearted unless he learns to rest in Christ fully.
Reflect Christ Faithfully
There is another aspect to becoming wholehearted. In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul writes, “[Christ] himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (CSB). Christ gives leaders to his Church for building it up so that all the believers “grow into maturity”. “Maturity” is also teleios, which again has the meaning of complete or wholehearted.
But here, Paul describes maturity, wholeheartedness, as “a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (or “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” in the NIV). In other words, as believers mature, they will reflect Christ more faithfully in every aspect of their lives. Once again, this not less than obedience, but it is certainly more. Wholeheartedness means learning to think like Jesus, to ponder God’s wonders like him, to pray like him, to act like him, to rejoice in God’s love like him, to respond to believers and non-believers like him, to mourn like him, to rest in God like him, even in death (Luke 23:46), to speak like him, to share God’s Word like him, etc.—all colored by his amazing grace as expressed in the gospel.
In summary, there are two key aspects to wholeheartedness: maturity in our certainty of salvation and maturity in becoming like Jesus. To make them memorable, we will talk about “resting in Christ fully” and “reflecting him faithfully.”
The Goal of Gospel-Centered Mentoring
The goal of mentoring Christians is helping them develop into wholehearted Children of God who rest in Christ fully and reflect him faithfully in every realm of their lives.
Next: Gospel-Centered Mentoring Starts with Our Identity in Christ…
[1] The Greek verb here is present active which speaks of continual action.
It seems that wholeheartedness is the opposite of Adam and Eve's behavior after the Fall. They hid, lied, and covered up. They withdrew their hearts from God out of shame. Because of Christ, we can approach God without fear. There's no need for image management. Christ covers our nakedness with his blood. So we can, "boldly approach the throne of mercy, when we need it the most." Nothing hidden. Nothing held back. Wholehearted.