Why Mentorship Is Important: Lessons From the Influential MentorSample

Mentors Point People to Jesus

Writing a book about the life of Howard Hendricks was truly one of the best projects that I’ve had the privilege of working on. After interviewing almost one hundred different leaders for the project, one of the primary things that stood out to me was his love for Jesus. Without question, Howard loved Jesus, and those around him knew it by how he pointed them to Jesus as well. During my time with his wife, who knew Howard best, she reflected on the countless times when he was asked to do something that didn’t point people to Jesus, Howard didn’t want to be a part of it. For Howard, the end game was this: was what he was being asked to do going to encourage people to become a disciple of Jesus?

In John chapter 1:39-45, Jesus is calling out His twelve disciples. The word “come” in the passage dramatically stands out. Jesus is making it clear that if you’re going to follow Him then you’re going to have to come with Him, and not only come with Him, but leave what you’ve been doing behind. Jesus knew that the men that were following Him were up to the task. So, if we’re going to mentor people well, we must be clear with them that they are not following us, but Jesus. Being an effective mentor means telling the one that you’re mentoring to come and follow Jesus. We must remember that we are icons, pointing people to Jesus, and not idols, asking people to follow us!

During my time with Mr. Hunter, he was the first person that I preached to, along with the other ten guys that met in his living room every other Saturday. I can remember him telling me that Jesus is the person that I’m following, not him. God was just using him to point people to Jesus. After forty years of being my mentor, Mr. Hunter has never shined the light on himself; he has only asked me to look to Jesus.

As a mentor, remember that you are to point people to Jesus. You want them to come and see what God can and wants to do in their life.