My childhood was marked by the first Star Wars movies. Playing with neighborhood friends, we recreated light saber scenes between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. We argued over who got to be Luke. Han Solo was often a close second. I don’t remember anyone ever volunteering to be Yoda. Yoda was not the star of any of the movies, but he is arguably one of the most important characters within the scope of the Star Wars saga. Mentoring Luke, Yoda provided guidance, training, wisdom, strength, confidence, and humility. Luke does not become a master Jedi without Yoda, his master teacher.
I have had a couple Yoda type figures in my life over the years. As a teenager new to faith, Tony, my youth leader spent a tremendous amount of time with me. I don’t remember specific lessons or pearls of wisdom, but I do remember conversations during late night card games, tubing down the American River, and hiking up Hamburger Hill. As a new Christian, I remember thinking that I wanted be the type of Christian I witnessed in Tony’s way of following Jesus.
My first years in ministry were under the supervision of Charley. When I was twenty-one he hired me as an intern at the church where he was the youth pastor. More than once, I thought he was going to fire me, but instead, he allowed me to make mistakes and mature as a young guy exploring his pastoral calling. Charley was the first person to name some of the gifts and abilities he saw starting to emerge in my life. Bringing these things to my attention and providing me with opportunities to lead planted seeds of confidence I continue to draw upon in my pastoral life today.
Most of us have experienced the life changing impact and benefit of someone investing their life into our own. A person willing to spend time with us, offer wisdom, speak honestly, share challenges, and provide encouragement. I think the single greatest way we can express our gratitude to those who have poured their lives into our own is by looking for opportunities to care for and invest our lives into the life of someone else. We see this as the example of discipleship witnessed in how Jesus spent time with people, especially his twelve disciples.
I am incredibly excited for the men’s mentoring group that launched earlier this month. Eight guys from Kairos committed to a mentoring small group for the next nine months. They are going to explore and examine their lives as men, husbands, fathers, and followers of Jesus. Checking in with one of the guys in the group after their first group meeting, he sent me this text message, “It was great. Truly! Never been with a group who was so open and transparent with real issues right off the bat.”
As a community, we can pray for God to use this group of men to strengthen their relationships and marriages, bring healing to families, and encourage lives of discipleship. We should also pray for Jim Ditzel and Slate Fluker who have signed on to play the role of Yoda for this group of guys.
– Joe