World Evangelism Podcast

Nurturing Faithful Disciples in Ministry

• W. Austin Gardner • Season 1 • Episode 31

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How can you master the art of mentoring in ministry and significantly impact the lives around you? This episode promises to equip you with invaluable insights rooted in biblical teachings, particularly 2 Timothy 2:2. We'll explore the essential traits of faithful individuals and the profound concept of "life on life discipleship." Learn about "withness," a term coined by Gunter Kralman, emphasizing the importance of meaningful time with your mentees. Discover how to train individuals for ministry and foster their spiritual growth, as guided by Ephesians 4:11-12 and Titus 2:3-5. We'll also introduce you to the "Be Do, Serve, Train" model, which underscores the significance of one's private identity in Christ and its influence on our ministry roles.

In the second segment, we celebrate an exciting milestone with the release of "Pain to Praise: Living Beyond Pain, Bitterness, and Regret." This 128-page book offers a transformative path from emotional wounds to healing and joy, perfect for those seeking relief from life's burdens. Hear a heartfelt introduction to this impactful work, designed to restore relationships and inspire a move from darkness to light. We encourage you to grab your copy on Amazon and join us in this journey of spreading hope and world evangelism. Thank you for your unwavering support, and may God bless you abundantly.

Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

W. Austin Gardner:

Well, I want to welcome you to the World Evangelism Podcast and I'm excited to talk to you today again about mentoring. You know, it's exciting when we see all the things that God is allowing us to do as we take the gospel around the world. So today I just want to give kind of a review of what we've been over so far and have you go over that with me. We are talking about a mentoring ministry. We are talking about mentoring and that is, in my opinion, the most important ministry of all. I take you to 2 Timothy 2 and verse 2. That's our key passage of Scripture that we want to look at, and the Bible said that which you have heard of me that you are to commit to faithful men, faithful men who are capable men. So you know, you're going to have to determine what that means Faithful you should write down a list of what you you know attending church, faithful in their family, faithful in their walk with Jesus and witnessing whatever. You want to find people that are living out their faith. And then you want to find out people that have been given gifts from God. They have been given the abilities. They may not be very distinguishable yet. They may not be very grown up yet, but they are there and you can help them grow those things, and so you want to teach them, and so the key term is that we do life on life discipleship. Life on life discipleship, that's one man and another man, or one woman and another woman, and they share life together. Gunter Kralman he really coined the phrase withness not witness, but witness, because he said you know, it's not about witnessing though we're going to be doing a lot of that it's about the time we spend with people, and Jesus spent great deals of time with people, and Jesus wasn't jealous. He prepared his men to do greater things than he had ever done in his life. Now, we're not talking about salvation there, but we are talking about the fact that they would raise more people from the dead, they would see more miracles done, they would spread the gospel in more and more places. And somewhere along the way we got off target. We got off track because we developed some wrong goals. We went after things that really became ministry related and not people related. We went after things that maybe became more about us than they were about the Lord, and it kind of got us off target. Now the Lord commanded us to go into all the world I know you've heard that and you know that and to preach to every creature and to all nations. I mean, these are gigantic terms. And so we look at that and we say that must be impossible. But it wasn't impossible for Jesus to say it and it wasn't impossible for us to enjoy that. And so we want to keep doing the work that God's called us to do.

W. Austin Gardner:

I always like to remind people that he gave Adam and Eve the job oh, my goodness, changed places there. He gave Adam and Eve the job of repopulating, or populating the entire world. Can you imagine that? This man and this woman, they're going to fill up an entire planet. They didn't hesitate, they just jumped at it. And God gave us a job to do as well. And our job is to be carrying the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the world. That's who we are, that's what we're supposed to be doing, and so our job is to do what it says, if you will, in Ephesians, chapter 4 and verse 11. And you can read all the way down further, but 11 and 12, when God gave gifted people to the church. He gave gifted people to the church and he told them to mature the saints for the work of the ministry, and the body would grow. And so your job in mentoring is to be training people to do the work you know.

W. Austin Gardner:

The Bible says in Titus, chapter 2, and verses 3 through 5, it tells the aged women how about this? The old to teach the young women? So, in other words, there it is modeled we are to take and teach others what we know. But somewhere along the way we got too hung up. I got too hung up on doing exterior things. We were worried about what people were doing, no more than we were worried about what people are. So years ago I developed a diagram that I use and I call it Be Do, serve, train, and I know that it's a little simplified, but Be Do, serve and train. And I call this up here our priority ministry. It's what we ought to be working at getting the gospel to as many people as we possibly can, and we ought to train others. Everybody mentors others.

W. Austin Gardner:

But the most important part of this is the B level, and I call that your private level because it is so private. Not even your spouse knows what's going on there. It's your identity in Christ, it is who you are. It is you without makeup. You know, we don't leave the house without washing our face, brushing our teeth, combing our hair, putting on fresh clothes. We want to walk out and make sure everybody sees us like we want to present ourselves, not what we are.

W. Austin Gardner:

And so the B level is the crucial level. The B level is your foundation. It is who you are. Everything is built on the foundation of who you are in Christ, who you really are, and this is something only you and God know. And then that's reflected in what you do. And so we do because we are. What happens comes out of us. It's because of who we are, in other words, who I am. Who I am makes me do what I do, and so my being affects my doing, who I am. In other words, if I could put it another way, a sheep can't be like a pig. It's against their nature. And so when you know who you are in Christ on the B level, on who you are or I can say who I am then that affects everything and that's where we want to spend our time working.

W. Austin Gardner:

But too often we have not done that. We haven't done that, we haven't taught people on the inside. So, basically, much preaching is external and we want outside change, and so we end up falling into legalism and rule-keeping and judging, and God wants growth to be from the inside out. He wants us to work on the interior man. You see, it is who you are that's in the inside and who you are naturally comes out. Now you know you can fool people for a long time If you. You know you can. You can deceive people and they may think you're something you're not. But eventually, under the right amount of pressure, the foundation crumbles and things fall apart and life becomes what you don't want it to be.

W. Austin Gardner:

So it's about who we are and then it's about do, and I call that the personal level, because that's you with makeup on and that's how people know you. Do you pay your bills on time? Do you show up at work? Are you doing the right thing? And then serve is how people see you in public. So I call that your public level. It is I am a pastor, missionary, church planter or whatever.

W. Austin Gardner:

And then eventually we all want to get to the training level and what I try to teach people is this we work with everybody all the way through. As high as they'll go, some people. They're going to get them saved and secure and they're going to start living in holiness and it's going to affect what they do, but they're really not going to get much above the personal level. God hasn't called everybody to be a preacher, and so they're not going to arrive at the public level. So we want to work on the interior of the man, not the exterior of the man. And you know what's hindered us in our discipleship? We haven't been transparent, we haven't been who we really are. Too many preachers and spiritual leaders may not be who they ought to be, on the B level, but they want to present on the outside what they're not, and so if we're not very careful, that becomes extremely, extremely dangerous. Can you agree with that? Can you understand that? Can you see how that works? And so we want to work on the inside of a person, so that gets us to basically where we really are today. And I would like to say to you that what people want, what people need, is for us to hold them accountable or help them accomplish what they're doing, without being judgmental. And too often people walk in and we are immediately judgmental. We are so concerned about the outside and it becomes very obvious on how we treat people.

W. Austin Gardner:

So that leads me to one of my favorite passages. You just have to go look up Hebrews 5, verses 1 through 4. I challenge you to go look up Hebrews 5, verses 1 through 4. I love you to go look up Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 1 through 4. I love it because in this passage of Scripture it talks about the high priest. Now, we are not Jews and this was written about the Jewish people. It's written about Israel. But there are principles that are so clear here.

W. Austin Gardner:

It says if you'll read the passage and I really challenge you to get into that passage it says in the passage that the high priest was taken from among men. So he was taken from among men. He was a man, he was one of us. So he wasn't sent down from heaven. He wasn't an angel, he wasn't perfect, he was a human, he was a man. He had the same failures that others could have.

W. Austin Gardner:

But what's interesting next is he was chosen for men. Read the passage of scripture he was chosen for men, and so it wasn't God down, it was. God chose a man and said I want you to represent me for them. You speak on their behalf, you become their representative, and then God said he's going to be taken from among men so he can have compassion.

W. Austin Gardner:

How much of that is missing in so much of what we do in the ministry. How much of our lives are spent? Think about that. How much of our lives are spent with such a judgmental and a critical spirit? We're not loving people, we're not helping people. We have become judgmental people, and so we don't want to be like that. We want to helping people. We have become judgmental people, and so we don't want to be like that. We want to have compassion. And the reason he could have compassion, the reason he could have compassion, was you know what? He was surrounded with problems. He was a man, and the Bible uses the word compassed about. He was surrounded by infirmity. He knew what it felt like. He was one of us.

W. Austin Gardner:

So if you're going to mentor people, you're going to want to bear that in mind. So that takes me to some principles that I'd like to share with you, and the first principle I'd share with you is what I call a double vision. Double vision Now, in double vision, and I just want you to take this to heart. Double vision is seeing a man as he is and seeing a man where he can be. In other words, I look at him today and I don't look over here and say, well, that's who he is. I look at him and say I would see what he can become with the right love, with the right teaching, with the right mentoring. What can he become? And that's.

W. Austin Gardner:

I learned that principle from the story of Gideon, and it's so funny because in Judges 6, god says to Gideon he says he says hey, mighty man of valor, and Gideon's like I don't know who you're talking to, that's not me, that's not who I am, I can't do that. But God saw Gideon where he was hiding in a cave threshing wheat, fearful, doubting. He questioned God so many times, but God saw him where he could be with the power of God. It's not who they are now, it's where they can be taken. It is how we lead them forward for Jesus. And so I want to challenge you to consider with me the need of loving people right where they are. I'm talking about loving people right where they are. I'm talking about seeing in them what they can become and what God has planned for them, because God has big plans for everybody. You are not just put on this earth to grow up and be whatever. You are put on this earth to be used greatly by God. So I'd like to challenge you to work on mentoring people, loving them and seeing them and helping them become all they can become for Jesus Christ.

W. Austin Gardner:

Well, I am so excited I have the opportunity to be with you and I thought I'd real quickly show you that my newest book is out Pain to Praise, living Beyond Pain, bitterness and Regret and, honestly, it can be read in two hours. If you're a very slow reader, three or four hours you'll finish the whole book. It's only got like 128 pages in it and it's just got so much good material in it, and so I want to challenge you to go to amazoncom and get a copy of this book. It's, I think. I think it can be a blessing to you. I am so excited that I get to share it with you, and a lot of my friends wrote a little word to it. Let me just read you a couple of words out of the introduction that might motivate you.

W. Austin Gardner:

If you've opened this book, you're hurting. Whether you sought out this book yourself or whether a loved one gave it to you, either you or someone who cares about you knows that it's time to move out of the darkness and into the light. This book is for anyone who has been hurt by others and is struggling in a deep, dark pit of pain. The wounds that others have caused you have stolen the joy from your life, replacing it with bitterness and anger. Whether your wound was inflicted months ago, years ago or decades ago, your pain has begun seeping into every area of your life, transforming who you once were. Not only has your pain interfered with your ability to find joy, but it may have disrupted your relationships with others or even with God. As the brightness in your life dims, your hurt, anger and despair grow. You don't know how to stop it, and I know what it's like because I went down the pit. I know what it's like because I suffered it myself. I know what it's like and I want to help you, and so if you'll just get a copy of that, I hope and pray it'll make a difference in your life. You can go to Amazoncom and buy a copy.

W. Austin Gardner:

Man, I love you guys. I thank you for the opportunity to talk to you. I just pray that I can inspire you for world evangelism, that I can motivate you to do things that you know you can and know that God's called you to do. So. Would you listen today as I come to you and say I want God to do something in my life and go help somebody, and say I want God to do something in my life and go help somebody. The way God uses you is blessing somebody else for his honor and glory. Thank y'all for being with me today. God bless you. Give us a like, give us a share If you're watching on YouTube. I am trying my best to do better and better and maybe we'll get good enough one day. God bless every one of you. Thank you for being with me.