Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Timothy 2:1-2 (Proverbs 22:6)
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines ‘Mentoring’ as ‘the practice of helping and advising a less experienced person over a period of time, especially as part of a formal programme in a company, university, etc’. This indicates on one hand a person taking time to teach or instruct, and, on the other hand another taking time to sit and be taught or instructed. The end result is that the teacher produces a student who is capable to function in the intended area of expertise. Thus, the roles of mentor and mentee are cut out and are to be taken seriously for success.
As the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses at God’s instruction took time and liberty to remind them of the instructions that God had over time given to them. This act of remembrance was to help them to remain steadfast in their faith in God even as they entered their new home. There were going to be challenges in their new home such as hostile nations, other gods and forms of worship, wild animals, bushes to clear and so on. All these were challenges capable of making them lose focus on the God who had rescued them from captivity in Egypt. It was important to know and remember what God had commanded. The success of this endeavour was intentionally focused on giving instructions to the next generation (many of whom had been born enroute to the new home) about the ‘trustworthy deeds of their God’ (Psalm 78:4).
In his instructions, Moses left no room for assumption or tardiness. ‘Parents were to instruct and impress on their children that they had only one God, and Him alone. These instructions were to be spoken throughout, that is, as they sat at home, as they walked along the road; before they went to sleep and when they rose up in the morning. These instructions were further to be tied as symbols on their hands and bound on their foreheads. They were also to be written on the door frames of their houses and gates’ [Deuteronomy 6:7-9]. In other words, these instructions were to be all around them, lest anyone forgot and sinned against God.
Intentional mentoring calls for steadfastness and faithfulness on the part of the mentor. In his Sermon 94 ‘On Family Religion’, John Wesley encourages parents to instruct their children “early, plainly, frequently and patiently”. The instructing should start as early as ‘the first hour that you perceive reason begins to dawn’ in the child. It should be done plainly by using ‘such words as little children may understand, just as they use themselves’. It should be done frequently, that is, as frequent as you feed your physical bodies.
Finally, it should be done patiently, that is, you should not do it hurriedly or give up this labour of love till you see the fruit of it. More than ever, today we need intentional mentoring of the next generation to ensure that the Church remains steadfast in representing Christ in the world. Our children are up against countless odds in their generation, yet the Gospel message remains the same. Parents must take their role in intentionally mentoring the next generation. They must instruct their children in the ways of the LORD early, plainly, frequently and patiently. When this is done steadfastly and faithfully, then the saying is true that, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it’ (Proverbs 22:6).
