What to Do When Your Mentor Tells You to Jump off a Cliff
I apologize if you clicked on this link expecting a sad (or at least interesting) memoir of a misguided experience I've had with a mentor. I've had no such mentorship relationship, rather, every mentor I have had has been influential in the best of ways. When I talk about mentors telling their "mentees" to jump off a cliff, I'm referring candidly to the book of Esther. Most people don't mention Esther when talking about mentorship (or discipleship, whatever you prefer), but I think there are valuable lessons to learn on that topic there. First we need some context. To put it briefly, what's important to know is that at this time the majority of the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon, and an evil man came up with a plan to exterminate the whole nation in one day. He cleverly convinced the king to sign a law permitting this genocide, and this is where our story begins. Light-hearted, isn't it? Happy Tuesday, everybody!
Once this decree is posted in the city square, a guy named Mordecai (summary: a Jew, Esther's older cousin, and a palace guard) began to mourn for the plight of his people. His life has a predetermined expiration date at this point, so this is an understandable response, which is recorded in Esther 4:1. His cousin, Esther, has been made queen by this time (through some nifty divine intervention; sidenote-I really like nifty as a descriptor for how God operates), and so he sends word to her, petitioning her to go before the king and plead for the salvation of the Jews (btw, the king could have her killed on the spot for entering his throne room without prior permission, so there's no guarantee she'd even get the chance to ask!). Esther responds (naturally) that she is scared for her life, and that she doesn't want to do it. Mordecai counters by reminding her that she is in danger due to the plot against the Jews as well (because eventually someone will find out she's a Jew, and law is the law in Babylon), and he also encourages her by saying, "who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this" (4:14).
This situation is similar to one that is taking place in the church today. Some members of the older generation are calling the younger generation to go before God and take responsibility for the state of the world, to plead for Him to do something to save it through them. The older generation sees that the church in America and Europe is crumbling, and that darkness covers the earth almost as it did in the days of Noah (which, if you read Matthew 24-35, makes you think a little bit), and they believe that God wants to rescue the doomed world through the actions of the younger generation. Most of our generation is responding like Esther, saying, "I don't want to lose my life!" You see, when Esther went before the king, her life was forfeit - he could kill her, or he could spare her and accept her into his presence, and she had to be ready for both. Our generation is similarly afraid to go before God for the sake of our generation because we're afraid of what He could demand of us; we don't want to have to give up our lives, or our ability to dictate what happens to us, and we know in our hearts (from the Word of God) that God will demand our complete devotion to Jesus and His desires in order for us to partner with Him. So we sit where we are, myself included, and we wait for God to "just do it" by Himself, or at least to get a head start, and then we'll join in later. Let me be clear: I believe that God could turn the hearts of every person on the planet to Himself instantly, but this is simply not how He has said He will operate. Since the time God came to Abraham and promised him a nation as his inheritance, God has made it clear that He intends to spread the message of His salvation and advertise what a genuine relationship with Him looks like through people (read: the church). There are situations in which God operates independent of human beings, but this isn't the norm, and it isn't meant to be. God works through the church! Giving our lives to Jesus is the cost that we must count when we consider going before God, and it is not small, but it is necessary if we want to be used to spread revival throughout the world.
We must heed the call of God coming through the older generation, which is to give ourselves to be Jonahs wherever God wants us (see Luke 11:29-30). We must accept their guidance and embrace their vision if we are going to be used as God desires. Joshua similarly served the vision and direction of Moses (see Exodus 17:8-13), and only because of Moses' leadership and protection was Joshua successful. Samuel even submitted to the apathetic mentoring of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:12-3:21), and we are also called to seek out mentors and submit to their leadership and vision until God gives us our own. If we choose to act independently, we risk failing without the "rod of God" over our heads. We can go before God and commit to live our lives for Jesus, but we must also recognize that part of that means submitting to authority and serving another person's vision. Surrendering to God is half the battle, listening to Him when He tells us to submit to another human is possibly harder, but it's necessary if we're going to be fully equipped and prepared for all that God has for us to do.
It's also important to remember that, just as with Esther, God can send the message of salvation through someone else (see Mordecai's response to Esther in 4:14a). We're not necessary, we're just given a lot of potential, and if we fail to go before the King, if we hold onto our lives, we will miss out on the opportunity of our lifetimes, a role to play in the greatest move of God in history!
Ron Campbell
Once this decree is posted in the city square, a guy named Mordecai (summary: a Jew, Esther's older cousin, and a palace guard) began to mourn for the plight of his people. His life has a predetermined expiration date at this point, so this is an understandable response, which is recorded in Esther 4:1. His cousin, Esther, has been made queen by this time (through some nifty divine intervention; sidenote-I really like nifty as a descriptor for how God operates), and so he sends word to her, petitioning her to go before the king and plead for the salvation of the Jews (btw, the king could have her killed on the spot for entering his throne room without prior permission, so there's no guarantee she'd even get the chance to ask!). Esther responds (naturally) that she is scared for her life, and that she doesn't want to do it. Mordecai counters by reminding her that she is in danger due to the plot against the Jews as well (because eventually someone will find out she's a Jew, and law is the law in Babylon), and he also encourages her by saying, "who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this" (4:14).
This situation is similar to one that is taking place in the church today. Some members of the older generation are calling the younger generation to go before God and take responsibility for the state of the world, to plead for Him to do something to save it through them. The older generation sees that the church in America and Europe is crumbling, and that darkness covers the earth almost as it did in the days of Noah (which, if you read Matthew 24-35, makes you think a little bit), and they believe that God wants to rescue the doomed world through the actions of the younger generation. Most of our generation is responding like Esther, saying, "I don't want to lose my life!" You see, when Esther went before the king, her life was forfeit - he could kill her, or he could spare her and accept her into his presence, and she had to be ready for both. Our generation is similarly afraid to go before God for the sake of our generation because we're afraid of what He could demand of us; we don't want to have to give up our lives, or our ability to dictate what happens to us, and we know in our hearts (from the Word of God) that God will demand our complete devotion to Jesus and His desires in order for us to partner with Him. So we sit where we are, myself included, and we wait for God to "just do it" by Himself, or at least to get a head start, and then we'll join in later. Let me be clear: I believe that God could turn the hearts of every person on the planet to Himself instantly, but this is simply not how He has said He will operate. Since the time God came to Abraham and promised him a nation as his inheritance, God has made it clear that He intends to spread the message of His salvation and advertise what a genuine relationship with Him looks like through people (read: the church). There are situations in which God operates independent of human beings, but this isn't the norm, and it isn't meant to be. God works through the church! Giving our lives to Jesus is the cost that we must count when we consider going before God, and it is not small, but it is necessary if we want to be used to spread revival throughout the world.
We must heed the call of God coming through the older generation, which is to give ourselves to be Jonahs wherever God wants us (see Luke 11:29-30). We must accept their guidance and embrace their vision if we are going to be used as God desires. Joshua similarly served the vision and direction of Moses (see Exodus 17:8-13), and only because of Moses' leadership and protection was Joshua successful. Samuel even submitted to the apathetic mentoring of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:12-3:21), and we are also called to seek out mentors and submit to their leadership and vision until God gives us our own. If we choose to act independently, we risk failing without the "rod of God" over our heads. We can go before God and commit to live our lives for Jesus, but we must also recognize that part of that means submitting to authority and serving another person's vision. Surrendering to God is half the battle, listening to Him when He tells us to submit to another human is possibly harder, but it's necessary if we're going to be fully equipped and prepared for all that God has for us to do.
It's also important to remember that, just as with Esther, God can send the message of salvation through someone else (see Mordecai's response to Esther in 4:14a). We're not necessary, we're just given a lot of potential, and if we fail to go before the King, if we hold onto our lives, we will miss out on the opportunity of our lifetimes, a role to play in the greatest move of God in history!
Ron Campbell
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