An intentional relationship, spiritually focused, where one individual is empowered toward the purposes of God through the investment and life experiences of another as they journey together is the definition of Spiritual mentoring is one that was developed in a mentoring class at Judson University with Dr. Dave Sanders. Should spiritual mentoring stop with one intentional relationship? It is my experience and observation that having multiple mentors from multiple generations with a variety of life experience adds valuable depth to spiritual mentoring.
Over the last two years I have had three men speaking heavily into my life. One of them my college professor, another is a parks and forestry maintenance worker and the third is a retired pastor. Each of them has very different life experience that adds exponentially to the amount of wisdom they are able to share with me. Each of them has a rock-solid faith in Christ and challenges me to be more genuine with my own faith in their own unique way. These relationships have vastly added to my personal growth throughout my final two years in college at Judson and are friendships that I expect will contribute to my development in years to come. One of the most powerful elements of having multiple mentors is being able to hear similar words of wisdom on issues in my life, receiving confirmation that a particular direction is healthy.
Guidance and direction are not the only ways in which my mentors have impacted me; they have also added priceless amounts of support in the midst of a busy lifestyle. As a college student in today’s fast paced culture where living demands busyness—I know that it can be difficult to allow time for people to speak into my life, especially when I value being available to speak into the lives of others. The value to having multiple mentors is that I can be more flexible with their availability, meeting when they are able, being more respectful of their time when their schedule doesn’t permit much flexible time. Already having this flexible scheduling worked out, there becomes a great opportunity for a support system from the various hardships and difficulties that happen within the daily grind of life.
The act of allowing mentors to speak into my life has been a humbling exercise. The wisdom and understanding that these men have is great. Despite their personal levels of achievement—I believe they expect more from me than they have seen for themselves. Being encouraged and empowered toward these ends is helpful and gives me a great sense of responsibility and confidence. Knowing that I am not able to attain these heights without their input and investment helps me to keep from becoming conceited and arrogant with the accomplishments and expectations for my life.
Not only have I seen the value of having multiple mentors in my own life but I have also seen the impact of having multiple mentors pour into the same mentee. One high school student that I meet with currently on a weekly basis, Josh, has myself as well as his parents, grandparents and several other adults that all speak wisdom into his life. I know that I have a limited amount of wisdom to offer Josh, so I appreciate that he has other venues to seek wisdom from. There isn’t as much pressure on myself to make sure I teach him everything I know and spend every moment possible imparting wisdom and knowledge.
Knowing that Josh has multiple outlets for receiving input into his life holds me accountable as well as gives me freedom to focus on where I feel I am strongest to shape and guide. I know that what I have to say will be weighed with other input from other mentors so I will make sure to say what I believe and am willing to back up. However, since I know that other mentors will have experience and expertise in areas that I am not as strong in, I can lean on some of my strengths for mentoring and trust others to help in areas I am not as well equipped to shape and nurture.
An ideal philosophy for having multiple spiritual mentors that I would suggest is for one person to have anywhere from three to six spiritual mentors who are all passionate about growing themselves as well as seeing their mentee grow. Because of the uniqueness of each individual, the flavor of intentionality, investment, life experience and journey will be different but compound exponentially in terms of spiritual growth and empowerment for the mentee. This allows an individual to have significant relationships with a few individuals but does not spread mentoring relationships so thin that they are ineffective. It also removes the need for a mentor to be an all-star and impact every area of a mentee’s life.
There is definitely a need for quality spiritual mentoring in everyone’s life. I see value added to these mentoring relationships when there are multiple mentors in an individual’s life that have different ages and life experiences to offer. I know it has been a blessing to have this variety in my own life both as the mentee and as the mentor.
