Last week we went over a set of case studies for different power sources. The last case study involved a recurring character and his young mentee. We had five answers and we wanted to discuss which one was correct. In case you do not remember:
“So you had that great marketing idea that you could launch man…weren’t you like a mathematician? You could use that stuff and get at these youth…get into these schools. What do you think?” The younger guy sighs and says, “Man I just have so much to do here…sometimes it feels like if I don’t know it, it won’t get done.” Our friend is kind of stunned. He’s never heard his young friend talk like that before. He knows he needs to connect to the Spirit for the next thing he says and do it just right for our friend. <
A. “Well do what you have to do that is that hard? You don’t do anything here!”
B. “I think you’re just afraid to move on out on your faith.”
C. “It won’t get done? How little faith do you have? You need to tighten up on that! You’ll never grow with that attitude”
D. “Alright man, let’s sit down and lay out what you got over here and make sure we can make sure you get your stuff established. I’ll call in the rest of the team and spread this weight around if you like.
E. None of the above.
So let’s look at how effective all the answers are:
A. A religious humanistic response. 1 Corinthians 12 says that everyone has a role in the Body of Christ and none of those roles are inconsequential.
B. Also pretty religiously humanistic. Who’s to say that the young man is afraid to move out on his faith. And even if that’s true, language like this isn’t going to help. Also, the Word of God is designed to uplift and convict, and if our words are to reflect the Word of God, they must do the same.
C. Is even worse. Perhaps the young man should have more trust in God. But remember he’s early in his spiritual walk. And as a wise man once told me, “You don’t get on a person for not bringing home a paycheck when they are in diapers”.
D. This seems like the Kingdom right? Actually, it’s not. Think about this. Our friend didn’t even take the time to figure out what all he was doing before taking the work off of him. We in the Kingdom are supposed to always be on offense, but we are also always supposed to have our prep work done (through genuine prayer for those in our lives and subsequent insight given by the Holy Spirit). By pre-emptively taking work away from his mentee, which may actually go against God’s Will. We who are spiritual must lift up a brother in a fault in gentleness (Galatians 6:1), but must also carry our own load (Galatians 6:4).
E. So none of the above? Well I’m sure you’ve figured that out. Here is a response from my friend Brenda….
“I don't think any of the answers suffice, especially if he is a mentor. He should lift up his pupil, and offer his assistance in helping his young friend carve out a ministry to reach young folk."
Good work Brenda. If he’s that concerned about it, then he must make genuine provision to help him perform his tasks. Because he has his role in God’s vision for his mentee. Remember that there is an overall vision for God’s Kingdom, and each ministry seeking to advance it has an individual vision. And furthermore, we also have our own visions and our roles in our own visions. We must give our all for our brothers and sisters in Christ (as fitting to the Lord), for “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, ESV).
I hope you enjoyed these case studies. Next week we will go into the reconciliation of the Galatians 6:1 principle and the Matthew 28:17 principle.
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