FALLEN MENTOR

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

When my son was eight years old I took him to a men’s retreat our church had organized. We left bright and early on a Saturday morning and had fun talking as we drove up into the mountains. We were anxious to explore the mountain meadows and have some time together.

 

We arrived at the retreat campsite and attended a short meeting. One of our pastors prayed over us and we were dismissed to enjoy God’s creation. My son Jeff ran for the nearby woods with me trailing close behind. Meandering through the pine trees was a sparkling mountain stream. My son loved running along the bubbling brook, throwing rocks in, and placing pieces of wood in the water to watch them float down the rapids. The stream wasn’t very deep or dangerous, but I warned Jeff not to get too close because the water was cold and I didn’t want him to get wet. I sat down on the ground and read a book while Jeff played nearby.

 

My son saw some men fishing and asked if he could fish. I told him we hadn’t brought any fishing gear so we would have to pass on that idea. He decided to be creative and found a stick that he could use as a fake fishing pole. Concerned that my son might have forgotten, I again reminded him not to get too close to the stream. 

 

All of a sudden Jeff yelled, “Hey Dad!” I looked up, expecting to see him soaked to the bone, but instead he displayed a long string of fishing line he had found with some weights on the end. I tied the line to his makeshift fishing pole and he began to pretend to fish. I went back to my book, after warning him yet again about getting too close to the water.

 

Soon, we had to move further down stream because according to my son, “The fish just weren’t biting.” I guess lead weights were not the bait of the day.  We came to a spot where there was a deep pool of water. I noticed that someone had spilled some small rubber fish eggs on the ground. Jeff got excited and began collecting them. I decided to help my son pick up the scattered bait. As I bent down, my right foot did not come down on solid ground. I wavered for balance as my body-weight shifted for stability. Before I could gain control my left leg began struggling to gain a footing as well. Before I knew it, I was partially baptized up to my waist in the deep pool of the stream. I struggled to get out of the creek with the weight of my wet clothes.

 

I looked up at my son and his eyes were as big as basketballs. I think he was amazed that after all those warnings from his dad, his mentor had not taken his own advice and had fallen into the creek. Needless to say I was greatly embarrassed and now had to figure out how I was going to get dry before going back to camp. Luckily it was a warm day and I dried quickly. 

 

I thought how similar my experience had been to situations that some of our Christian mentors experience. We have all had mentors in our spiritual lives that we looked up to. Unfortunately, sometimes our leaders and mentors fall. They fall into the same sin they preach or teach against. We too may fail in our own Christian lives as we mentor or disciple others.

 

The Apostle Paul was concerned about this for himself when he shared in 1 Corinthians 9:24‑27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” He shares here about a spiritual race we are all called to run. The race we run as Christians involves obeying Christ, serving our Lord and Master, ministering to others and telling people about the grace and mercy we have received from our Heavenly Father. Paul is speaking of the high calling we have as children of God.

 

While our salvation rests in the sufficiency of the sacrifice our Savior made on the cross and not on our abilities to live righteously, we are still called by our Lord to holy living. Eternal life is a free gift through the grace of God, but we prove we have truly been saved and renewed when we live according to the truth of God’s word and persevere in the faith. 

 

We are all called to be a mentor of someone and to mentor someone in turn. The role of mentor is a position of great responsibility. If as mentors, we claim Jesus as our Lord and Master, we need to take the advice of Paul and run the race before us.  If we really are a child of God, we should take great pleasure in obeying Him. We should strive to seek His will. We should run the race with intensity, desire and focus. If we say we are Christians, if we preach against sin, if we warn others of how they should live, we should follow our own advice.

 

The advice from scripture is that to obey is better than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22). While we know God will forgive us if we fall as mentors (I John 1:9‑10), it is much better that we obey God in the first place. It is an obedient child of God who seeks to obey rather than degrade the sacrifice of our savior by choosing to sin.  

 

Has a mentor of yours fallen? Has someone you looked up to or respected, sinned and offended you? Forgive them. Recognize that as long as they repent and turn from their sin that they should be given the same grace and mercy that you have been given.

 

Have you, yourself, fallen? Have you chosen to sin in areas that you have warned others of? Have you preached and witnessed of God’s Truth, but haven’t followed your own counsel? If you have, ask for forgiveness, get up and run the race you have been called to run. I pray you will be able to say at the end of your race as Paul did, ““I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7