The lack of fatherhood and mentorship in the Body of Christ has sponsored to a large degree the rate of imbalance, immaturity, and ignorance in the Body.
Because sound mentorship and fatherhood has left the Church the average believer is unaware of certain principles and precepts he should be intimate with.
Lack of mentorship and fatherhood has caused many upcoming believers to break certain spiritual laws without knowing and they suffer the consequences not withstanding.
Big organizations know that it is important to have an effective mentoring system to help thier young staff because with an effective mentoring system these youngsters can learn all they should learn and become excellent employees.
The role of mentorship and fatherhood can never be overly emphasized. It is because it is lacking in the Church that's why the young, vibrant youth do not know what is expected of him even though he's zealous for God.
So many have fallen off the Christian race because there was no one who played the role of fatherhood for them when they needed one.
Others have broken spiritual ordinances in their pursuit of God because they had no mentor to show them the path to follow.
You may say that the Holy Spirit is there to help anyone who desires to follow God but mind you the reason why God has taken you through some experiences and have dealt with you in the way He did is so that you'd use your experience and dealings to help someone else.
If all you care about is you and your pursuit of God and you do not regard or think highly of your neighbor then you are simply selfish and wicked.
You don't seem to care how the person follows God but you care how he falls into sin. This is how hypocritical the Body of Christ has become. Interested only in their pitfalls and downfalls and never willing to help them walk the way of righteousness.
In my introduction, I spoke about the various effects the lack of mentorship and fatherhood has brought on the Body of Christ.
Here's more;
1. Lack of mentorship is one of the leading causes of error in the Body of Christ.
When people come into the Faith, they are practically left on their own allowing them to chart a course by themselves. This often results in the increased operation of error and falsehood in the Body of Christ.
2. Lack of mentorship and fatherhood brings about a shortchanging in ministerial call.
This is peculiar to persons who have got the call of God into ministry. Without adequate fatherhood and proper mentorship, the devil will succeed in perveting and shortchanging the ministry of the called.
Nothing is as painful as being abnormal or subnormal in the practice of your ministry and that's what the devil does in the absence of adequate fatherhood and proper mentorship.
It is just so obvious that, the role fatherhood and mentorship have to play in the Body of Christ can not be over-emphasized and its lack is a leading cause of the imbalance, immaturity, and ignorance that has beset the Body.
WHY DO WE NEED THE ROLE OF FATHERHOOD AND MENTORSHIP?
From the effects of the lack of fatherhood and mentorship in the Body we can deduce the reasons why we need it.
But I would outline some of the reasons why fatherhood and mentorship must be restored back to the Body of Christ.
1. To Assist "Baby Christians" Find Their Way and Steady Footing in Christ.
After Saul (Apostle Paul) met with Jesus and was converted, due to his past history as a persecutor of the Church, he was not received into the Body of Christ with open arms. He faced serious opposition as so many didn't believe he was genuinely saved.
But something happened.
"But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus." – Acts 9:27
A man called Barnabas took Apostle Paul and testified to the fact that truly Paul was now a believer before the apostles.
Apostle Paul's life and ministry would never have seen the light of the day if Barnabas didn't stand in the gap and played the role of a father and mentor.
Many new believers have fallen off the track not because the devil's temptation overwhelmed them but because there was no one acting as a father to them.
I personally would never have gone this far with God if I didn't align myself to a mentor. When I received the life of Christ in repentance, I was constantly falling into sin but from the time when I was joined to my mentor I started to become stable with my spiritual life.
If Paul who Jesus Himself encountered before he was saved needed Barnabas then what stops the new believer from having a mentor..??
2. To Help Young Minister Gain Spiritual Intelligence on Effective Ministerial Work
"Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee great roll, and write in it with man's pen concerning Mahershalalhasbaz.
And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
And I went unto the prophetess; and she she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhasbaz.
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
This was a child who was only some months old. He bore the template upon which God Almighty was to work by as regards an entire nation.
A boy of some months old was carrying on him the fate of the nation of Samaria yet he couldn't relate it. Isaiah standing in the position of fatherhood and playing the expected role of a mentor was able to relate the prophecy over the life of Mahershalalhasbaz.
Even in the Body of Christ there are "babies" who are carrying great spiritual presses yet there is no one who is acting as a father over them. By babies I do not refer to age, I am talking about spiritual maturity.
Mahershalalhasbaz had a prophecy on his life yet he didn't even know how to say "My father, talk more of knowing what prophecy he was carrying was about.
So many in Church have come under great spiritual knowledge but because no one is able to tell them how it came, why it came, and how to sustain the effect the devil comes in and steals what they've gotten.
Others still have got the call of the Spirit into ministry but are unaware because they are unable to interpret the various impulses the Spirit of God is relating to their spirit.
Psalms 8:2 says that "Out of the mouth of babes and suckling you have ordained strength..." but how would this babes communicate this strength when Fatherhood is not in place.
There's so much that God is doing with men but since the role of fatherhood and mentorship has being vacant we are experiencing very little.
3. To Provide Spiritual Covering
The same way a father provides security, covering and protection for his children is the same way a mentor provides spiritual covering for the mentee.
Just as a child needs his father to shield him from danger so also a baby Christian needs a mentor to provide a covered for him.
Every man needs a spiritual covering over him. It becomes more needful when one comes into the Faith because the devil would always seek to pull such a one out of the Faith.
4. To Give Wise-Counsel And Sound Instruction.
"This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare" – 1 Timothy 1:18
The books of 1st and 2nd Timothy is a conpendium of wise counsel and instructions from a mentor and father (Apostle Paul) to a son and mentee (Timothy).
These instructions as Apostle Paul explains is so that Timothy can war a good warfare. The instruction Apostle Paul gave Timothy are deep and full of insights little wonder why the Bible never recorded any pitfalls in the ministry of Timothy.
You can't have access to wise counsel and instructions from someone who has gone ahead of you and fail.
Many times in my walk with God I had almost made a drastic decision which would have abruptly ended my walk with God but my mentors through wise counsel and instructions have helped me stand right.
It is only a fool that won't accept instructions from someone who hasn't gone ahead of him/her.
Anyone who desires to grow and know God must be teachable and receptive to wisdom and instructions.
Mentors and fathers are in the best position to offer instructions and wise counsel for the growth and development of babes in Christ. Withholding wisdom and instructions from them is sheer wickedness and hatred for the Body of Christ.
5. To Be A Supportive Figure In All Ramifications
A father and mentor is supposed to provide support in all ramifications of the life of the son or mentee.
As a mentor, your mentee expects that if everyone turns their back on him/her they should have you to run to for cover and succor.
If anyone does not believe in them and their ministry, you as their mentor and father should be standing in the crowd cheering them on.
When they feel they've lost it, you should be there to reassure them they have not lost everything.
Personally, I do not outrightly become heartbroken when friends disapprove me. I just wait to hear from my mentors. If they disapprove me in the same manner then I could be heart-battered.
Why? I have placed them over me as sources of strength and support and if any seems to pull me down that can thoroughly be disheartening.
We can keep talking about the need for effective mentoring and the role of fatherhood in the Body of Christ.
Just as world-renowed organizations invest so much and channel resources for the implementation of an effective mentoring system, the Body of Christ must imbide the system of mentoring to.
Let's help build the "babes and sucklings" in Christ.
Let's help grow and develop youngsters.
Let's help bring about spiritual stability and maturity in the Body.
Let's play efficiently the role of fatherhood and effectively the ministry of mentorship!
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