I have never met a healthy leader who did not have mentors (seriously…never).

In my experience, mentors are essential for growth in Christ, personal health, flourishing family life, wisdom for service, and fruitful ministry. They are needed in all the ages and stages of our lives (not only when we are starting out). They are meant to provide, among other things, encouragement, perspective, challenge, and love (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12). They are examples to follow in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity (1 Timothy 4:12).

I became a Christian through the ministry of Young Life at Paradise Valley High School in 1991. Since then, I have been on a 24/7/365 search for mentors. They have been catalysts to my growth in grace (2 Peter 3:18) and progress and joy in the faith (1 Timothy 4:15). Most of my mentors have been informal, and I hardly ever asked, “will you mentor me?” But they have been there, and have made a genuine, gospel-shaped difference in my life.

Because the illustration is often more powerful than the explanation, let me share three “mentor stories.”

Pastor Joe | Humble Courage
Joe Bubar served as an EFCA pastor for most of his ministry. God brought him into my life about 20 years ago. It would be hard to exaggerate the difference he has made for me. I often refer to him as “my most important mentor.” I could tell hundreds of mentor stories about Joe, but one that illustrates humble courage comes to mind. As a young associate pastor, I remember sitting in Joe’s office just prior to a meeting. He told me he needed to make a phone call, but I could stay. I remember him introducing himself, saying he was the pastor of a certain person in our church, and he wanted the person he was calling to know that he knew what was going on between our church member and this person. I remember him saying simply, “I just wanted you to know that I know.” After he got off the phone, he told me that these two people were having an affair, and Joe was helping the person in our church repent and return to the Lord (and this call was part of that). I remember being struck by the kind firmness of Joe’s tone during the call. I also remember thinking I had just learned something about guarding the flock that I should never, ever forget.

Dr. Scharf | Trembling at God’s Word
I first met Dr. Greg Scharf in 2005, in his preaching class at Trinity. That first course (and the years sitting under his teaching at TEDS) had a massive impact on my life and ministry. He gave me a framework and provided so much practical wisdom for preaching. Later in seminary, I was blessed to serve as his graduate assistant (grading papers and sermons, helping him prep, etc.) and be part of his formation group. This gave me ample opportunity to watch and listen. Time and again, I saw a model of how to approach God’s Word. He was humble, with the posture of a learner. He was confident, knowing the powerful impact God’s truth has on the human heart. He was bold, knowing that a preacher who faithfully proclaims God’s Word has nothing to fear. And he was dependent, modeling how each and every part of the Bible is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3). In him, I saw one for whom Scripture was the foundation underneath, the rule above, the wind behind, and the message always, always put forth. I am so thankful for his personal example of how an ordinary pastor can humbly tremble at God’s Word (Isaiah 62:2).

Glen Schrieber | Generous Encouragement
In 2006, I was at the EFCA Theology Conference at South Suburban Church in Eagan, MN. Back then, I believe our theology conference was called the EFCA Mid-Winter Ministerial. I was in seminary, which meant I was fascinated by books but too poor to buy any but the ones assigned to me each semester (usually a soul-crushing stack well over a foot high). As I stood longingly by the book table, Glen Schrieber walked up and began a conversation with me (at the time, he was the district superintendent of EFCA Southeast). I think this might have been the first time I met Glen. We spoke for a few minutes, and then out of the blue he said, “Pick a book and I’ll buy it for you.” This small generous gift had an outsized impact on me. I felt understood, noticed, and valued. I was tempted to pick an expensive commentary (Grant Osborne’s Revelation commentary in the Baker Exegetical series). But that seemed too much, so I chose a short book called The Mark of Jesus by Timothy George and John Woodbridge. This was just the beginning of Glen’s mentoring in my life. Over the past two decades, I have reached out to him consistently for guidance, perspective, encouragement, and challenge.

You might be wondering, why bring up mentoring right now? Let me share two reasons.

First, because our district staff is always ambitious for your growth in Christ (seriously…always). We never stop thinking about how to help the pastors and church leaders of the NCD grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). So much of what we do as a district is aimed at this singular, good goal.

But there is more…

Pastors and church leaders are in short supply right now. When I came out of seminary in 2007, that was not the case. I remember submitting my resume to open pastoral positions knowing that it was in a stack of hundreds. Fast forward 20 years, with so much destabilizing cultural change, and there is a shortage of vocational and lay leaders for the church at nearly every level. I have great confidence that the Lord will raise up leaders. But I know that he does that mainly through the work of His people in His church.

And He often does it through mentoring relationships (seriously, often :).