What Does Mentoring Look Like?

Anyone can become a mentor using the simple discipleship resources at pursueGOD.org. A mentor is simply a Christian who comes alongside another person or group to help them pursue God. It’s as easy as 1-2-3: just find a topic from our resources, learn about it on your own, and explore it together through conversation.

Mentoring environments

Mentoring can happen in several different environments. Family mentoring happens at home when parents intentionally lead their kids or teens through weekly or daily devotionals. Group mentoring happens in churches, ministries and neighborhoods when three or more people gather to discuss topics from our sites. And individual mentoring happens whenever one person makes a commitment to walk with another person through thick and thin. Whether you’re mentoring through an official church program or on your own as a Christian, the free resources at pursueGOD.org can help you keep it biblical and helpful.

Mentoring at home

We believe that parents are mentors at home, and our resources are designed to empower great conversations on just about any topic. We recommend scheduling “family talk” at least weekly – a time for the entire family to get together and talk about truth for everyday life. Start it when the kids are young, and continue into the teen years. Pick a topic that is relevant every week, and soon you’ll create a conversational culture in your family.

Mentoring at church and small groups

Churches can use our resources to simplify their small group ministry. Whether you’re mentoring one-on-one or in a small group setting, the tools work the same. When small group leaders keep it simple by choosing topics from our library, they are modeling a discipleship method for everyone in the group. Small groups also provide a place where individual mentoring can occur between group members. Parents can now go home and mentor their kids and teens. Men and women can apply the same method with a different topic in one-on-one mentoring relationships. A discipleship culture can emerge as you equip everyone to bring the truth of God’s Word into their everyday lives.

Student ministry and youth ministry

Mentoring changes lives, and it can start at a young age. Our resources are designed to empower students in high school and middle school to get in the game and help other students pursue God. Pastors can use our tools to create a mentor-based youth ministry and parents can use them to train their teens to become disciple-makers at church, school or in the neighborhood.

Mentor training

The best way to train as a mentor is to get a mentor – and just start using the tools. Start with our Foundations series and dig deeper with one of our training series.

Discussion Questions:

Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
In your own words, describe the “FLEX” method. How can the FLEX method help you mentor? What are some challenges with the FLEX method? How can you overcome these challenges?
What does mentoring look like at church? At home? At work or school? What sets a mentoring relationship apart from a normal friendship? What are the elements of a mentoring relationship?
List the three commitments of a mentor. Which commitment is the hardest for you? Why? What do these mentoring commitments look like in each of the mentoring environments?
What is a “full circle” pursuit of God? Where are you on the circle? How can you move forward?
Write a personal action step based on this conversation.