Tag: experience

Mentorship

Carl Pollard

Every single year, 5.8 billion dollars worth of gift cards go unclaimed. That is wild to me! That money has already been spent. The value is already real. The benefits have already been purchased. And yet, it is never enjoyed. Not because the gift lacked worth, but because no one ever claimed it.

As I read that, I couldn’t help but think about the church. God has already invested in His people. He has already gifted wisdom, experience, maturity, and faith. He has already placed leaders, teachers, servants, and examples among us. And yet, far too often, those gifts go unused. Not because God failed to give them, but because no one was ever taught how to receive them.

Theres a line from an old country song that keeps coming to mind. In the wise and ever relevant words of George Jones, “Who’s gonna fill their shoes?” It is a simple question, but a deeply personal one. When a generation steps aside, when lives come to an end, when the baton must be passed, who will be ready?

Even the business world understands this principle. One hundred percent of the top fifty companies in the United States have formal mentoring programs because they work. Mentored organizations see higher profits, stronger retention, and greater productivity. If mentorship is this powerful for temporary success, imagine its impact on eternal souls!

Mentorship built the church. Jesus didn’t build His kingdom with crowds, but with mentored men. He spent three years walking with imperfect disciples who argued, misunderstood, failed, and ran. Yet He stayed. Mentorship is about presence. Those same men went on to turn the world upside down, and when Jesus ascended, the church did not collapse because someone was ready.

Mentorship is biblical. Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had learned to faithful people who could teach others also. From Eli and Samuel to Paul and Timothy, this is God’s design.

Mentorship is double sided. It requires faithful mentors and humble learners. It blesses both. It strengthens families, deepens faith, and connects generations. It is wonderful to experience the beauty of biblical mentorship! 

One day, every one of us will step aside. The only thing that will remain is what we have passed on. Mentorship is how we refuse to let God’s investment go unclaimed. 

Advice From The Aged

Dale Pollard

“Those who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success.” – African Proverb 

God doesn’t tell us to listen to the elderly because they’re often right, but because they also have more experience being wrong. Solomon’s work of Ecclesiastes will attest to that. 

Every Tuesday the senior Tompkinsville church family members gather at the church building for a Bible study. The class is made up of some of the greatest examples of elderly faithful servants that the brotherhood has to offer. Their wisdom and life experience is invaluable and taking advantage of that, the question was posed– 

“What would you tell yourself if you could talk to yourself back in High School?” 

Here are some of their answers…

K: “Make your circle of friends larger. Be friends with everybody. You’ll thank yourself later in life because it’s always beneficial to know more people.” 

J: “Be able to think past the next week. Your choices will affect your future. Choose your friends wisely, and don’t try so hard to fit in. Make sure your closest friends are members of the church.” 

M: “Raise your kids in the church and emphasize the importance of going to worship. If they stray away when they get older, there’s a greater chance that they’ll return. Just ensure that they know how important it is so that they’ll always know where they need to be. Make your kids go to worship.” 

G: “Seek the truth while you’re young. I wasn’t a member of the church in high school and I wish I hadn’t waited so long.” 

K: “If you think you shouldn’t— don’t.” 

J: “Develop a good Bible study routine while you’re young.” 

This wasn’t all they had to say, but there’s something powerful about listening to the wisdom of the elderly (especially in the church) because it solidifies the trustworthiness of Biblical teaching. How many mistakes would we have avoided if we were able to go back and talk some sense into our younger selves? 

“Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.”  Leviticus 19.32 

I Have Learned…

  • That some people are not happy unless they’re in a fight with someone.
  • That there are still lost people hungry for to know God’s will for their lives.
  • That it is so easy to make excuses and so hard to make the effort.
  • That I still have so much to learn, so far to go, and so little time to do it.
  • That some people do not believe it’s possible to lean too far to the right.
  • That some people do not believe it’s possible to lean too far to the left.
  • That some people get “preach the truth” but not “in love.”
  • That some people know how to be loving, but are unwilling to preach the truth.
  • That there are some who believe they are judge, jury, and executioner.
  • That some preachers decide what to preach based more on popular opinion and felt needs than honestly, courageously seeking to preach the whole counsel of God.
  • That some run roughshod over others while hypersensitive to their own rights.
  • That some can tell you what the preachers’, elders’, and deacons’ jobs are, but think their only job is to tell you that.
  • That many of God’s people are striving to live right every day, often at great personal sacrifice and despite great opposition.
  • That there are some who do good all the time, and would be mortified for others to know it.
  • That some make sure others know every good thing they do.
  • That everybody is extremely busy, but some are better time managers than others.
  • That with some people you are guilty until you can prove you are innocent, and you may still be guilty in their minds.
  • That no one can hand you success, prosperity, or discipline.  God gives you the tools, but neither He nor anyone else can make you develop and sustain them.
  • That elders and preachers who work together create a bond that holds the local church together.
  • That we have overemphasized specialization (evangelism training, youth workers, Bible class teachers) to the point that many feel unqualified and “opt out.”
  • That every one of us that gets to heaven will get there with much help from God and brethren.

—Neal Pollard