Millennials Matter: Go And Make Discipling LeadersSample

Mentor Trustworthiness

We lose influence as soon as we’ve lost someone’s trust. Cultivating a courageous character core requires that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, be trustworthy. Trustworthiness must be demonstrated for and nurtured in young Christian leaders. Millennials particularly have been wounded since many trust scandals hit America during their impressionable years. Consequently, they’re slow to trust and to know how to exhibit trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness comes when you are worthy of being trusted by others, especially when facing moral and ethical challenges. One of the biggest driving forces of trust is when we are committed to serving others and to seeking God’s best for them. Moses was trustworthy. So was Joshua.

People follow someone they trust, particularly in matters of faith. So how do you grow a trustworthy character in your young Christian leader? As a Christian mentor, you:

• are consistent and dependable
• can be relied on to tell the truth
• are on your mentee’s side and always have their best interests at heart
• are always honorable in words and actions
• act like a real person, not someone in a role
• allow your mentee latitude to think; you don’t just give your conclusions
• challenge their assumptions to help them uncover false assumptions
• are motivated to always do the right thing
• are constantly finding new ways to be of greater service 

When we mentor trustworthiness, we strive to demonstrate a solid character core and frequently encourage the same in our mentees. 

We also help them evaluate how consistently they exhibit the above trustworthy characteristics and pinpoint which ones they want to strengthen. Then we develop a plan that includes concrete actions where they can measure their success. It’s important to talk through what behaviors they are going to do differently. Otherwise it’s just talk, no action. And if there’s no action, results will stay the same. 

With that being said, it’s also important to understand that we are all imperfect, and we must be honest in communicating that to the mentee we disciple. “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’ ” (Romans 3:10 NIV). Always point to God as the one whose words and trustworthy actions they should ultimately follow and one day strive to build in their own mentees.