Awaking Wonder: Becoming the Mentor Your Child Needsናሙና

Jesus, the Ultimate Mentor

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:40

The ultimate mentor was Jesus, who lived the reality of what He wanted His disciples—His students—to become. Jesus emphasized this principle when He said the student will become like his teacher. In other words, what the teacher believes, teaches, and models is what the student will become. As a model for us in mentoring, Jesus lived among His disciples, taught them every hour of the day, ate with them, modeled love and righteous living, served them, washed their feet. His desire to pass on the kingdom vision for life meant that He was “all in” with His disciples as the servant leader. His heart was to model and live out what He wanted them to become. And so they did, after He died. 

Can you imagine how different Christianity would be if the disciples had just been given a book to read (and to be tested on at the end of the reading) instead of having a personal, in-the-flesh, loving mentor-friend? This begs the questions for us: Are we the people we want our students to become? If your student becomes like you, what will he or she be like? What would we need to change to be the model of what we hope to nurture them to become? 

Words that describe the role a mentor plays might be coach, cheerleader, trainer, instructor, director, guide, inspirer, friend. All of these images offer us an example of what role we, as parents or teachers, might play in the lives of our children. As mentors, we become role models. Parents who choose to mentor their children actively initiate them and seek their overall well-being and long-term development. It is a lifelong relationship that is active, intentional, life-giving, responsive. It is not so much about merely passing on knowledge, but inspiring to possibilities, drawing out skills, casting vision, and engaging the student’s mind and heart in imagining and envisioning their own personal potential. Mentors do not just disseminate facts, they embody a force of life, love, and inspiration. They become personal in their relationship to their “students.” 

How do Jesus’ words in Luke 6:40 strike you? Have you ever considered this as applicable to your own life as a parent? How would you feel if your child became just like you?