Mentors

Hang with me and read this passage:

Titus 2 (New International Version)
What Must Be Taught to Various Groups 

1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.


6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.


9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.


11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.


15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Today I met with a "mentor" for the first time. For years, I've wanted to meet with a mentor. The idea of having an older, wiser woman to talk to, someone I truly trusted, was extremely appealing to me. I can give a notable list of woman I contemplated asking to mentor me. I never initiated. And I had to go through some painful times alone (We are never really alone while we are in Christ, but guidance from wiser Christians is always wise).


But why should we seek to be discipled? Titus 2 has a number of big lessons for the mentors themselves, but I will only talk here for "disciples". The passage cites the following reasons to seek mentorship:

1. To learn sound doctrine.

So so key... in fact, this reason comes before the others. Here's the reason why: without sound doctrine our efforts in our sanctification are going to be misguided. As William MacDonald wrote in his commentary on Titus 2, "Who can measure the damage to the Christian testimony by those who professed great sanctity but lived a lie?" Sound doctrine is the only way to truly fulfill the following purposes of mentorship.

2. To grow in faith, love, and endurance.

A mentor should be strong in all of these areas. Thusly, the person that he/she is discipling can learn to take after their example. 

This really condenses all of the other reasons cited here in Titus. Faith. This flows as a natural consequence of sound doctrine. Love. We love best when we practice purity and kindness, as well as many other Christian virtues. For young women specifically, vs. 4 says to learn how to love their husbands and children. Endurance. Self-control and temperance are also mentioned in this passage. Endurance is a good way to categorize the two. Endurance also means consistency in our growth in faith and love. It holds the two (self-control and temperance) constant.

4. To be encouraged.

2 Thessalonians 3:13: And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.  This could well be a sort of motto for the mentor-disciple relationship. 

5. To be rebuked.

Few people seek to be rebuked. Actually, unless a person is being spiteful, it seems quite contrary to our sinful nature to consider rebuke as a plus. But it is.  The passage above quite often talks about self-control. There is a pragmatic reason the the mentor-discple relationship helps in this area: a good mentor will ask you the worst questions. I use "worst" to mean the questions that you don't want to be asked, the private areas of sin in your life that you do not want revealed. 

All of these reasons are interconnected. They depend upon one another. And all are done through the loving instruction of an older and wiser Christian.

A few more thoughts. This verse sets up an example of discipleship. And there is a key thing to note: Paul wrote in verse 5 that Titus was to teach older women and they in turn were to mentor younger women.  For discretion's sake, Titus was to mentor the young men, but not the young women. Before there is a rousing cry of gender equality in your mind, rest assured that this reached beyond cultural inhibitions. A mentoring relationship is a very intimate one. Ideally, a mentor will know you extremely well and a bond grows between the mentor and the disciple. But let me clarify: this does not mean that members of opposite genders can't learn life lessons and proper doctrine from each other. If this was true, we'd be in a lot of trouble. Christians can learn from members of either gender. But the relationship between disciple and mentor is closer than most and precautions must be taken. 


Further, some may have noticed that I did not really talk about verses 9-10. This is because you, my audience, are not slaves. But there are a few things that should be noted here, lest someone mistakes that Christianity condones the practice of slavery. Another MacDonald explanation: 

We should remember that the Bible acknowledges the existence of institutions of which it does not necessarily approve. For instance the OT [Old Testament] records the polygamous lives of many of patriarchs, yet polygamy was never God's will for His people. God has never approved of the injustices and cruelties of slavery; He will hold the masters responsible in the coming day. At the same time the NT [New Testament] does not advocate the overthrow of slavery by forcible revolution. Rather, it condemns and removes the abuses of slavery by the power of the gospel.... But in the meantime, where slavery still exists, a slave is not excluded from the very best in Christianity. He can be a witness to the transforming power of Christ, and he can adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

Also, it seems to be a sad reality that mentorship is neglected in many churches. Or perhaps, just the churches that I've been able to observe. But just because a church doesn't hand us a mentorship program on a plate doesn't give us any excuse for ignoring it. It seems that the disciple must seek out a person to disciple them. This was the case for me. And I fear that I've waited longer than I wanted to wait. In reality, I had many godly women around me who would have been willing to mentor me if I had only asked. 

Lastly, I will close with a focusing on versus 11-14: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." There will be a day when Christ returns. We should take note of the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), and seek to be ready for when we will see Christ. If we utilize the tool of meeting with the mentor, we shall be guided closer to hearing the words of Matthew 25:23 ("Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!") as we are mentored in the disciples of love, faith, endurance. 

-Jamie

2008-09 Eng.: Euthanasia: Nuclear Giants and Ethical Infants

This is an old essay that I never got around to finishing the draft of. This isn't my post for the week, but maybe you'll find it interesting. 

Jessica Beebe
Mr. Littlefield
English 11
19 October 2008


Nuclear Giants and Ethical Infants

In the fourth century B.C., doctors were expected to pledge these words: “I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but I will never use it to injure or wrong them. I will not give poison to anyone though asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan… But in purity and in holiness I will guard my life and my art” (Hippocrates). Why is this not the noble badge of humanity today? Why instead, has the social order made it acceptable, nay, admirable, to end the life of another human being? Society has strayed much. Rather than guarding life, it is questioned whether causing or allowing death is really the higher moral calling. The blatant relativity of “mercy killing” goes against absolute truths of Christianity: the sanctity of life, man’s inability to judge right and wrong, and God’s explicit commandment that “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Drunken ethics cannot dictate whether a life is worth defending and protecting.

The holding of life as sacred and precious is an “absolute and reasonable ethic” (Schweitzer 1936). Ethics can only exist when desire and life are inextricably enmeshed. Our will to live must power our hearts. As a Nobel Peace Prize winner explained, “Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life. This is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil” (Schweitzer xviii).

Truly, we brought into the world with the God-given instinct to breathe. This is so small an observation that we often miss the profundity of it. Forget not that the Lord Himself is the fountainhead of all goodness; stainless and holy in His glorious existence. Because of this, He wastes not. He does not sketch drafts of a life only to disregard it and crumple it away. It is so very crucial to found our theology on the knowledge of God’s purposefulness. Each day of creation had its place., the Lord looked over the expanses of the earth’s terrain, the forces of nature, the textures, the abstracts, and He finally looked upon the breath of man and said, “It is good” (Genesis 1:31). Because of this, we have an obligation to protect “God's precious gift of life… in law and nurtured in love” (Ashcroft qtd. in Mother Jones). Euthanasia cheapens the sacrosanctity of life and ultimately, God’s sovereignty, when man impatiently decides that God’s timing is far less than perfect.

Further, it must be said that though designed flawlessly, humanity has chosen to be corrupted. Though man has built systems of ethics in the hopes for a truly firm foundation on how life must be managed, the tragic truth is that the source of such systems is hopelessly skewed. One cannot hope to draw a straight line with both eyes closed. Nothing is as threatening to morality as an ethical system fragmented by ambivalence: what one intends to do is not always what one does. Even more dangerous is the fact that the “most decisive actions of our life ... are most often unconsidered actions” (Gide qtd. in “Wisdom Quotes”). How then can we even dare to trust ourselves with something as precious as life? How can we eliminate subjectivity from the practice of mercy killing? If we practice euthanasia when we believe it best and when we think that a person’s time has expired, what is to say that our judgments are safe from all kinds of greed, selfishness, carelessness, anger, etcetera? The truth is that we cannot. Even from a secular view, our subjectivity on this matter is disturbing. The UK Association for Palliative Medicine & the National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services released a statement warning that “euthanasia, once accepted, is uncontrollable for philosophical, logical and practical reasons. Patients will certainly die without and against their wishes if any such legislation is introduced” (PAS 2003). Where a conclusion cannot be drawn with God-given certainty, then it is best that one errs on the side of caution rather than practice the murder of the helpless.

And lastly, God’s Word makes it quite clear that so called “mercy killing” is a savage twisting of biblical morals. First and foremost, our orders are to support the weak, the ill, and the oppressed. How is the dying hospital patient any different? Why do we desperately try to save the lost teenager but then turn away from the lethally depressed man who is at the end of his life? Secondly, we see evidence against suicide throughout the Bible as in the case of Job. As one website explained, Job seemed hopelessly sick and dying. His wife was in favor of self-euthanasia. She told her husband, ‘Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die’ (Job 2:9). How did Job receive that advice? In the next verse he said, ‘But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.’ Job admitted that whether we suffer with pain in life, or whether we do not, is in the hands of God to decide (Liberty Gospel Tracts).

Even more contradiction to the practice of euthanasia can be found in the account of Saul’s suicide. When Saul asked the Amalekite, “Stand beside me and kill me; for agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me” (2 Samuel 1:9), the Amalekite obliged. The Amalekite then came to David, believing that that he aught to be rewarded for this noble gesture. But when King David, a man after God’s own heart, heard this, he declared, “Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the Lord’s anointed’” (2 Samuel 1:16). Further, David condemns the Amalekite to death for his crime. The destruction of life is clearly evident throughout the God’s holy word. It is sheer blasphemy to ignore this because we feel compelled to “end suffering”. The truth must be said: suffering does not necessarily end with death.

In the Netherlands, more than two thousand involuntary mercy killings were reported in 2000 (Cohen-Almagor 162). Physicians administered the drug without specific request or consent. The rate of assisted suicides committed because the patient believes that they are a burden has increased incredibly in Oregon (Sullivan 605-607). These statistics are both heartbreaking and undeniably tragic. Omar N. Bradley explained it well when he observed, “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.” It is not too late. This despicable practice can be reversed. As one man once put it, “Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency” (Aesop qtd. in “QuoteWorld”). To be a spectator is also to be a participant.

Works Cited
"Aesop." QuoteWorld.org. 2008. QuoteWorld. 24 Oct. 2008.
Cohen-Almagor, Raphael. Euthanasia in the Netherlands : The Policy and Practice of Mercy Killing. New York: Springer, 2004. 162. Google Books. Google. .
Edelstein, Ludwig, trans. The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation. Baltimore, MA: John Hopkins P, 1943. NOVA Online. Mar. 2001. PBS. 15 Oct. 2008 .
"Euthanasia: What Does It Really Mean?" Promoting the Respect for Human Life. Queensland Right to Life. 15 Oct. 2008 .
Lewis, Jone J. "Life Quotes." Wisdom Quotes. 1995. 15 Oct. 2008 .
The NIV Study Bible. Exod. 20.13. 4th ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan House, 1995. 115.
Reagan, David F. "Four Arguments Against Euthanasia or Mercy Killing." Learn the Bible. 2006. Antioch Baptist Church. 15 Oct. 2008 .
Saletan, William. "Reagan Redux." Mother Jones: Smart, Fearless Journalism (1998). Mother Jones: Smart, Fearless Journalism. 24 Oct. 2008 .
Schweitzer, Albert. "The Ethics of Reverence for Life." Christendom 1936.
Schwietzer, Albert. "Preface." Preface. Civilization and Ethics. By Albert Schwietzer, Charles T. Campion, Charles E. Russell and Lilian M. Russell. 3rd ed. London: A. & C. Black, 1949. Xviii.
Sullivan AD et al. Legalized physician-assisted suicide in Oregon, 1998-2000. New England Journal of Medicine 2001; 344: 605-607
UK Association for Palliative Medicine & the National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services. "PAS." Press release. Oct. 2005. LifeSiteNews.com. 24 Oct. 2008 .
"What Does the Bible Teach About Euthanasia?" Liberty Gospel Tracts. Liberty Baptist Church. 15 Oct. 2008 .

Coming Back

I have had it on my mind to come back to blogging for a very long time. I had an old blog, but I would rather not talk about that. This one was meant to be solely for private use, but someone may stumble upon it.

I decided to come back to blogging because it was an enormous tool for my devotional life. Where I have trouble focusing, writing is a very strict teacher. And blogger's new Designer Template feature makes it much easier for customizing my canvas to my aesthetic tastes. The former point was the most important.

So I've decided to pick it up again. To be honest, it is less for you than it is for myself (whoever you may be). I don't imagine there are many, if any, of you. I will make it a goal to prepare an entry about once a week; more if I'm having a slow week, less if I'm extremely busy.

More to come.

-Jamie

'In the Land of Believers' by Gina Welch

A writer goes undercover as a 'church lady' to write an account of being a member of an evangelical church. The book becomes a melodrama, with the author in the role of villain. Article here.

Young evangelical writer: 'Move on' from evolution-creationism debate

Article here.