“As apostles of Christ…. we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.” –1 Thess. 2:7b–12
When I encountered Jesus for the very first time, I was a senior in high school. A close friend had been sharing the life of Jesus with me for quite some time, and so he invited me to his youth group. I felt prompted (by what I know now as the Holy Spirit) to come forward and accept this love and new life being offered to me. It was not only good news to me, it was great news! Excitedly I ran home to tell my mom that I had given my life to Jesus, and her response was, “Well, that’s nice, honey. Just don’t give your whole life to it.” Well, that didn’t work out too well, because I did.
Needless to say, I didn’t have a spiritual mother or father in my home. So, I had to figure out what it meant to follow Jesus on my own for many years, until I found a beautiful community of friends that I did life with. Together we learned how to lovingly urge one another onward and live the life Jesus made possible for us.
As I read the New Testament and get to know the apostle Paul, one of the things I love about him most is that he always had someone younger with him to disciple and teach about Jesus and the reality of living under his Kingdom rule, to give away all that he had been given. He was like a father, not only to them but to the people he loved and served as he planted churches. He sacrificed financially for them. He gave his life to nurture, care for, and encourage them to stay the course, often to flee from sin and follow Jesus with their whole heart. He even said that he considered himself like a mother and father that lovingly feeds and cares for his own children. He gave his very life for his spiritual children, with joy and a deep love, like a parent does for their own. (Sounds like a great description of a true, mature apostle, don’t you think?)
Today, we are in dire need of spiritual fathers and mothers; men and women that will give their time to love, listen to, and encourage the next generation to live this gospel message. And as they are discipled by fathers and mothers that give their lives to them, like Paul, then they will in turn, do the same. Like one of the men that Bill and I poured our lives into for many years says now, “The next generation doesn’t need another program. They need fathers and mothers.” He has given his life to this and is raising up gospel-carriers into his city and world. I’d like to invite you to ask the Holy Spirit what this might mean for you…
Is there someone in your life that you could be a spiritual mother or father to? Is there someone that just keeps coming to mind, that God may be speaking to you about? Someone that you could walk with, disciple and love, and that needs this good news, like I did? Like you did.
I’d like to invite you to take a few minutes to ask the Holy Spirit, is there someone that you have for me to disciple and encourage in this way?
Ask him what it might look like for you to spend time with him/her.
There is no special way to do it or a guide for how to be a spiritual mother or father. Just be yourself and spend time with them, giving away what God has freely given to you.
Enjoy it!
Being a spiritual mother or father is not easy, just like parenthood. But, also just like parenthood, there is nothing more rewarding and fulfilling. Pretty sure Paul would say the same thing.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prior to joining Novo in 2014, Jill Randall enjoyed a multifaceted career serving as a high school special education teacher, director of the Life Equipping Community (a holistic equipping ministry for emerging leaders), as well as working with her husband, Bill, to found and lead several disciple-making churches. After joining Novo, Jill leveraged her three decades of ministry experience to design and oversee a unique shepherd/care ministry for Novo’s front-line workers that has impacted the whole organization. Jill and Bill love their new role serving together on the Novo Lead Team as Co-Directors of the Gospel Movement Teams division. They continue to spend much of their time equipping and coaching leaders and teams serving around the world helping them flourish in their missional contexts. Jill and Bill live in Boise, ID close to their three married kids and six grandchildren.