Discipleship: The Spiritual Form of Mentorship
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Below is an excerpt from the new book The Master Teacher: 12 Spiritual Lessons That Can Transform Schools and Revolutionize Public Education by Marilyn Anderson Rhames.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ...”
– Psalms 71:17-18
I’m forever grateful to Mrs. Pauletta Saxon, my high school counselor. I had earned straight A’s in my freshman year at Corliss High School in Chicago, and I decided that I was smart enough to be in the honors program. However, I was in the music track, and school policy prohibited students from switching programs. Upset, I went to Mrs. Saxon. She then told the powers that be that a girl with dreams of being a doctor was best served by honors courses, not a double period of choir. The next year I was in the honors program and Mrs. Saxon was no longer my counselor—she was my mentor. We took a particular liking to each other, and she would even take me out to eat at times.
My best friend was just as smart as me, but she didn’t have a mentor and wasn’t in the honors program. Her experience at our high school and her subsequent career path were rougher than mine. Every student needs a mentor; mine changed the trajectory of my life!
Jesus, the Master Teacher
Jesus didn’t mentor people; He discipled them. Jesus didn’t give school, career, or parenting advice; He taught followers the intents of God’s heart and used His own life as a model of one living righteously before God and man. The intensity of His discipleship was unlike any mentor-mentee relationship of today. In Luke 14:26–27, 33, Jesus explained the terms of His investment of time and energy:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple … those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples.”
Jesus wasn’t asking his disciples for a lot—He was asking for it all! In return, He would forever change how His disciples saw the world.
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Application for School Transformation
There is a big difference between discipleship and mentorship. Discipleship points one to a closer relationship with God, while mentorship focuses on earthly success. Both have their place.
Public school employees must be careful to mentor, not disciple their students, as federal law prohibits teachers from encouraging or discouraging religious activities or beliefs. However, as the saying goes, “More is caught than taught.” A Christian mentor whose life reflects the love and righteousness of God can disciple a child without speaking a word about faith in Jesus.
Mentorship/discipleship done well is cyclical. Dawson Trotman, the late founder of The Navigators and author of Born to Reproduce, calculated that if Person A discipled Person B for six months and then each of them discipled another person for six months, and the four of them each discipled a new person for the next six months, and this trend continued for five years, then the total of people reached would be 1,024. After 15 and a half years, 2,147,500,000 people would be reached. However, if Person B never went on to disciple anyone else, then more than a billion people would not have been reached, only 1,073,750 people after the 15th year.
Jesus valued quality over quantity. By investing in the development of 12 ordinary men—and then charging them to disciple others—Jesus grew His church exponentially and turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Likewise, if school districts officially embraced this cyclical mentorship model, it could rapidly transform the education system from the inside out.
Spiritual Lesson #11: Effective mentorship (and discipleship) is personal, relentless, and cyclical.
ABOUT MARILYN ANDERSON RHAMES
Marilyn Anderson Rhames is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Teachers Who Pray. She taught in Chicago Public Schools for nearly 15 years and is an award-winning education blogger and TEDx speaker. She is also the author of the new book, The Master Teacher: 12 Spiritual Lessons That Can Transform Schools and Revolutionize Public Education.