“For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.”
1 Corinthians 4:15
Our Christian subculture in the United States has no shortage of resources. At the tip of our fingers, we can access thousands of sermon podcasts, countless e-books, and even many seminary-level study helps. And yet none of this is an adequate substitute for the advantage of having someone to imitate in following Christ. There’s something about watching the pattern of a godly man or woman’s life that teaches us what it means to apply the Gospel to different situations and seasons of life.
Paul understood this so much that he even encouraged his hearers later in 1 Corinthians to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). Paul wasn’t trying to gain a following for himself. Instead he was saying, in effect, “I am running toward Christ. If you want to know how to do that, follow me and we will end up in the same place.” We need the benefit of incarnational relationships with believers who are more seasoned and wiser than us. We need fathers and mothers in the Gospel.
If I were to take a liberty and contextualize Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 4, above, into our current day, it might sound something like this: “I know you have many podcast pastors, many devotional books, and many blogs (like this one), but what you really need is a mentor.” Thankfully, we are not left in the dark about what this should look like. In a word, it looks like the local church. For this reason, we are not to neglect the gathering of believers at the local church (Hebrews 10:25). It is in the local church that we are able to both find and be spiritual mentors.
Is there a model for this kind of one-on-one, elder to younger ministry? Absolutely. In Titus 2, Paul conveyed a picture of older women encouraging and discipling the younger women. Likewise, Paul’s own relationship with Timothy demonstrates how an older man might take a younger man under his wing and gradually pass off responsibilities as the younger man’s own ability expands. A further beauty of this idea is how it serves to cover over the losses endured when a young person doesn't have a biological father/mother, or at least one who can show them the way of Christ.
How can you find a spiritual father or mother? How can you be one? Prayerfully consider how God might use you here. After all, this seems to represent a fundamental biblical model for disciple-making in the family and in the local church.