Although mentoring is a relatively new term within church circles, it has been practiced widely in Christian communities for years. Across many churches, spiritual coaching, directorship, discipleship, and friendship have been implemented in a mostly unstructured form, necessitating the need to formulate standard skills and methods for mentors for better outcomes. According to Mallison (1998), Christian coaching encompasses the development of disciples and leaders through sound instructions and encouragement, which are founded on God’s will and biblical teachings. The author defines Christian mentoring as “a dynamic, intentional relationship of trust in which one person enables another to maximize the grace of God in their life and service” (Mallison, 1998, p. 8). The author’s predominant theme is that mentorship is not optional if Christians intend to grow and the criticality of taking an interest in the progress of others.
Christian-based mentoring integrates various spiritual components, aspects, and the bible as the principal ingredients. By presenting Jesus as the prime mentoring model, Mallison’s (1998) central premise is that Christians should be concerned in the spiritual and personal growth of others since Christianity is relational and collectivist. The author emphasizes the concepts of community and interdependence by describing “a Christian wanting to live in isolation as a pious particle” (Mallison, 1998, p. 34). However, the author’s notable refutation is that despite integrating all the critical ingredients and observing the foundational principles, Christian mentoring is futile if not underlined by a genuine desire to see the mentor advance spiritually.
Mentorship and developing an interest in the spiritual and personal growth of others are indispensable if Christians are keen on growing deeper in their spirituality. For instance, Christian fellowships should allocate responsible and dependable persons to mentor new disciples due to their reliability and genuine concern for the mentees’ progress (Mallison, 1998). One of the publication’s key implications is the critical significance of a properly structured and biblically inspired coaching program. This implies that Christian mentorship models should generate disciples and leaders who then would continue propagating the gospel. Notable critiques in the book include the exclusive dependence on the bible as the source of information for analysis. Additionally, there is limited exploration of the relationship of spiritual friends and the spiritual directors with the mentors and the absent views on mentor damage. The author also accentuates his views by drawing comparisons from other works and the extensive integration of biblical insights. A question arising from the publication is how the Christian model of mentoring can remedy destructive coaching.
Reference
Mallison, J. (1998). Mentoring to develop disciples and leaders. Scripture Union.