Who Are Your Mentors?
When you become a pastor at 25-years old, leadership seems like a lonely proposition, to say the least.
That’s where I was when I was 25.
I was facing the three things every leader faces as a tender, quarter-century child:
1. Ignorance (You don’t know what you don’t know).
A position like this at such a young age seems ludicrous to me now. That said, I now know that there’s much more I don’t know, and I know now more than I knew then. The advantage was that I took on a learner's mindset at an early age.
2. Isolation
Every leadership position has an innate element of loneliness. There was a “mentor” who told me that as a leader of people, I ought to isolate myself and make sure none of the people I’m leading become friends. I tried that approach for about a week. It didn’t work for me.
Nevertheless, leadership is inherently lonely, whether you’re pastoring a church, starting a business, or running a large organization. The isolation is real.
3. Discouragement
It’s more of an equation.
Ignorance + Isolation = discouragement. Discouraged leaders lack the motivation to innovate. Creativity wanes. Courage is all but gone.
There was a day I decided I needed to find a mentor.
For me, at the time, mentorship was in the form of books and authors.
Eugene Peterson, CS Lewis, David Martin Lloyd-Jones, and John Owen came to my rescue in those days.
I’ve always felt I would have been much better off with real-life mentors.
That's who I look for. That's who I try to be.
A mentor shows the path. She teaches what she’s learned while allowing you to also learn for yourself. You learn what you need to know, eliminating ignorance.
A mentor lets you know you’re not alone. Others have walked this path. A great mentor walks with you once again. You’re not walking alone.
When you know what you need to know and you know you’re not alone courage returns.
You will climb higher, faster if you have someone who will show you the way.
