This past weekend at the church planting class I spent a little time talking about mentors. Ed Stetzer a few years ago documented the importance of a mentor to the success of the church planter. It was one of the top ten indicators of success for a new church plant.

Here’s some of my best  advice when it comes to a mentor:

     1. Find someone who has been successful at what you want to do.

     2. Find someone who will give you time consistently.

     3. Find someone you can trust to expose your weaknesses and failures to.

     4. Find someone that will talk straight to you, that will tell you when you are in sin or making a mistake.

     5. Find someone who is living a “godly” life in business, home, and community.

     6. Find someone who has your best interest at heart.

     7. Find someone who is learning from others.

     8. Take every advantage of meeting and talking, especially in the beginning. Be careful not to wear out your welcome though. You will transition at some point to phone and email contacts.

     9. Go to the meeting with an agenda, but follow his/her agenda.

    10. Study his history of success and failure. He should have learned from both.

    11. Understand that a mentor today is not necessarily your mentor tomorrow. As you grow you may need someone to push you to the next level. A good mentor will recognize this and will not be alarmed as he transitions from mentor to friend.

    12. I believe this mentor needs to be someone from outside the church you are starting.

Find someone to challenge you and your thinking! Don’t just go after the same old, same old. Otherwise you get the same old, same old.

Tags: Church Planting, Mentors