{"id":239,"date":"2014-03-01T06:01:37","date_gmt":"2014-03-01T06:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnmark.net.au\/mx\/?p=239"},"modified":"2014-04-01T09:29:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T09:29:05","slug":"every-pastor-needs-a-mentor-rick-warren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnmark.net.au\/mx\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Every Pastor needs a Mentor – Rick Warren"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reposted from Rick Warren<\/p>\n

http:\/\/pastors.com\/you-need-a-mentor-by-rick-warren\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Every pastor needs a mentor. No matter what stage you are in your ministry, you need someone to coach you.<\/p>\n

All sorts of organizations use the mentoring process to make people better at what they do. In medicine, doctors mentor younger doctors. In music, musicians mentor other musicians. Why? It works. We learn best when we have people who can speak into our lives and ministry. Proverbs 19:20 says, \u201cGet all the advice you can and be wise the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

I will always need a coach \u2013 no matter how old I get or how successful I become. Lebron James is one of the best basketball players on the planet. He still needs a coach. You will never get to a point in your life when you can say, \u201cI\u2019ve learned it all. I don\u2019t need anybody else to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A mentor brings out the best in you in three areas: your roles, your goals, and your soul. Mentors give us perspective. They help us look at ourselves and our ministry from the outside. We don\u2019t always see what we\u2019re doing outside of our own perspective. We see from our own limited focus. We need somebody else in our life to say, \u201cHave you thought about\u2026? What about this? What about that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Saddleback would not be where it is today without men who\u2019ve poured their lives into me \u2013 people who\u2019ve made me look at my ministry in a different light. Proverbs 15:22 says, \u201cPlans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed.\u201d What God has done through Saddleback over the past 30 years hasn\u2019t happened because I\u2019m smart. It\u2019s because I\u2019ve had great mentors and advisors. They are people I\u2019ve bounced ideas off of and gotten feedback from.<\/p>\n

What do you look for in a mentor? Let me suggest three qualities \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>1. Someone who has the character and values you admire<\/strong>. You want to find a mentor who is the kind of person you want to be.<\/p>\n

2. Someone with the skills and experience you want<\/strong>. Look for another pastor who has the particular ministry skills you want to improve upon. Maybe it\u2019s preaching. Maybe it\u2019s leadership. Maybe it\u2019s a pastor who has successfully navigated through a building campaign. Find someone who is good at something you want to be good at.<\/p>\n

3. Someone you trust<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t trust your mentor, you\u2019re not going to learn anything from him. Just because a mentor has a lot of knowledge doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll click with him. To make a good mentoring experience, in time you\u2019ll need to be able to open up to the person you choose.<\/p>\n

Ask good questions<\/strong>. Once you pick the right mentor, you\u2019ll need to make the most of the time you have with that person. Neither you nor your mentor have unlimited time. What can you do to maximize your time with your mentor? Ask questions. Before you meet with your mentor, spend some time thinking about questions you want to ask. Think about what issues you\u2019re dealing with in your ministry. Think about what areas of your mentor\u2019s ministry you\u2019d like to learn from. Be specific.<\/p>\n

One of my mentors was a guy named Billy, who had a mentor himself. Billy went to a large church in Texas and put himself under the pastor. At the end of six months, Billy went to him and said, \u201cI\u2019ve watched your teaching for six months and I\u2019ve never heard you preach a dud. God speaks through everything you teach. Every time you teach there\u2019s power, practical information, and good insight. I would like to know how you stay fresh. What\u2019s your secret?\u201d<\/p>\n

The man told Billy, \u201cAbout 35 to 40 years ago, I made a commitment to stay fresh, so I could feed other people. To do that, I read through the New Testament once a week.\u201d Billy sat there dumbfounded, trying to think up an intelligent follow-up question to ask. \u201cWhat translation do you read it in?\u201d Billy asked. The Texas pastor said, \u201cUsually in the original Greek.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billy later told me that he could have been with the guy for five or six years and never found out the secret to his freshness and spiritual depth if he hadn\u2019t asked the question. Anyone \u2013 at any time \u2013 can be a mentor if you learn to ask questions. Everyone has a reservoir of knowledge, skills, and experience they can share. A wise person will learn to draw them out.<\/p>\n

If I were to sit down with you, I\u2019d learn some things that would make me a better pastor. I\u2019m sure of it. You\u2019ve had experiences that I haven\u2019t had \u2013 and vice versa. Be prepared with standard questions to ask every time you get around someone you might learn from. Questions like \u2013<\/p>\n