Three Crucial People

I wanted to catch up on a post that I started drafting back on November 11, 2004. In 1 Corinthians 4:14-16, Paul refers to the need to have and to be spiritual parents. I was talking to my dad recently about how my pastor crystalized my thinking about this with this summary:

Every Christian needs three kinds of Godly relationships.

1. A spiritual parent, someone who mentors us.
2. A spiritual friend, someone who walks beside us.
3. A spiritual child, someone that we mentor.

In becoming a spiritual parent/teacher, we ourselves grow more than we ever could have grown as a spiritual child/student. In finding a spiritual parent/teacher/mentor, we admit that we do not know everything and we gain the benefits of having someone to challenge us further. In having a spiritual friend/brother/sister, we have someone to talk to and lean on.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) tells us that we are responsible to disciple and teach others, to become spiritual parents. The verse I referenced above from Corinthians tells us about the importance of having our own spiritual mentors, indicating that it's not enough to have good teachers or guardians. And finally, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 talks about the strength that we can gain from friends.

These are things that I've written about before but those three relationships still seem crucial to me.