Monday, 19 August 2013

GOD OR MAN: WHICH IS SUITABLE AS A MENTOR. Part 1

Hi readers and followers,

Happy Monday!

Wishing you a lovely and productive week.

The below post is by my friend-Tosin, a regular writer on my blog.

GOD OR MAN: WHICH IS SUITABLE AS A MENTOR. Part 1

The relationship between men can be likened to be a very strong magnetic field as men require each other to survive. Irrespective of the struggle to attain independence which is often attained in terms of individual men being able to decide for themselves what they require, what they want and what they would love to see attained, does not remove in anyway whatsoever the need for interaction with other fellow men who share like minds, similar vision, similar motivation as well as similar beliefs.

It is not strange among men to have a man standing in the capacity of Mentor for reasons not usually beyond the truth that such person has achieved something which is enviable and could be taught to another so as to become like such person. Mentorship seems to relate properly with the word ‘perfection’. This relationship is so because when man looks up to another he sees as perfect example and takes every utterance made as a stamp print of what things ought to be even when such person classified mentor is in error as he too is in learning process though it’s never in the open to the mentored nor is it admitted in the open that the issue on the floor is not known.

For the believer man does not qualify to be a mentor simply because man is not the best example for fellow man. Man relationship with each other would rather be likened to magnet; which are attracted to each other for specific reasons. Scriptures encourage fellowship with one another as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). The fact that there is a spiritual grace on another does not place such as superior or perfect over the other but rather puts such man in a position to offer something that has made him as he is. 

Every man has a good quality or the other as well as a bad quality which can be added to another or sought to be removed from another for instance a giver would love to see another who is stingy to develop the habit of giving because of blessings associated with giving more, so giving reaches out to others and opens doors rather than blocking avenues to be blessed or blocking opportunities and in the same vein a thief will not want to show another the path to steal because of the many troubles associated with it but would rather require one to lead him out of it or he would be planning on how a final operation could be done for the jinx to be broken.

Paul told the early church to be followers of him (Paul) as he was of Christ. Christ was higher than Paul in all ramifications and had the best of answers to the questions of Paul. When Paul was formerly Saul it was Christ who appeared to him knowing Paul never knew the implication of what he was doing and gave him a better job to do which had higher and better benefit as money. What Paul was getting as a murderer was nothing compared to the eternal riches which could be attained upon submission to Christ.. 

Christ had the better option and alternative. Man would always have an option as the Pharisees and Sadducees had when Christ was on earth  but their option or stand was inferior to Christ in all ways so though some persons looked up to them as mentors they were getting something  inferior. The disciples had the perfect mentor with them hence they could align themselves with all they heard from him in response to their questions and to what he shared with them even after he had ascended back to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to continue with them.


Man cannot have Christ as a mentor and still put his hope on fellow man. No singular man has all the answers but Christ has. Our professors, lecturers, teachers, pastors, colleagues and family lack 100% answers to the issues that bug or plague us, they only give us opinionated responses based on the extent to which they know and a new acquisition of knowledge can cause them to change their standpoint earlier presented which displaces them from being true mentors. 

Mentors are known for providing correct answers which can stand the time but when answers can change or be questioned when man is involved the ideal of having a mentor as a man is in question. 


Part 2 of this post will be available next week Monday morning. Watch out for it.

-   Oluwatosin Olatoye

About the writer: Tosin is a trained Lawyer. He is single and lives in Warri, Nigeria.  Tosin has a passion for God and everything to do with living right for God.  Since I have known Tosin, every conversation that we have always revolves around building our faith in Christ.  

Thank you so much Tosin.

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