Boys To Men, Men to Boys

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Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,453
113
#1
1 Timothy 5:1
5 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,

Young men look to the old for guidance and assurance while the old look to the young to take over where they left off.

Every generation looks to who will take up the mantle from where they left off.

Take up the mantle- To assume a role of leadership that someone else once held.

The wisdom of the old understands the young must be trained up in the way they should go. If not trained in the way you wish them to go, then the carnal ways of the world will easily guide them.

Proverbs 22:6
King James Version

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We are commanded to make disciples and teach them to obey the Words of God and to strengthen each other's relationship with God.


Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Every teacher was once a disciple, every disciple should strive to be teachers, and every teacher shouldn't be beyond being taught.

Luke 6:40
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

To be fully trained takes guidance and time invested. To bring the infant minded boys or men into spiritual maturity. Doing so prepares us to righteously discern between what is good and what is evil. This brings assurance when a culture is desperately trying to call what is good, evil and what is evil, good. This provides the clarity and confidence to hold the line, to lock our shields, and resist the schemes of Satan.

Hebrews 5:12-14
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,177
113
#2
its quite sad there seem to be elders who dont teach and are quite immature in their faith. I was once in a church like that and it was like the blind leading the blind. in fact some of those deemed elders were in their 30s and the actual elders, in their 60s and 70s were like the babies! (of the baby boomer generation I think, as their parents didnt teach them either...just let them run wild)

with men the lack of male teachers in schools is a concern. Predatory youth leaders and wolves one needs to watch out for too. Dont abidcate your responsibilty to teach and train those younger than you.
 

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,453
113
#3
its quite sad there seem to be elders who dont teach and are quite immature in their faith. I was once in a church like that and it was like the blind leading the blind. in fact some of those deemed elders were in their 30s and the actual elders, in their 60s and 70s were like the babies! (of the baby boomer generation I think, as their parents didnt teach them either...just let them run wild)

with men the lack of male teachers in schools is a concern. Predatory youth leaders and wolves one needs to watch out for too. Dont abidcate your responsibilty to teach and train those younger than you.

1 Kings 19:19
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

This was an act of choosing an apprentice, disciple, successor, or even adoption as Elisha was giving up his home, family, and land to follow Elijah.


2 Kings 2:9-15
New International Version

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.


In a similar way, our lives influence others positively or negatively. The Spirit of Elijah had rested on Elisha as evident from picking up the cloak of Elijah. Elisha had been trained up for this very day. He wasted no time in response to what he was prepared to do. Notice Elijah wasn't perfect as evident when he hid in the wilderness out of fear, pleading with God to end his life.

But yet Elisha received exactly what he needed. We need not be perfect but we do need to be genuine and mission-minded. Relational in our walk with the Spirit. Just as the Spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, we will see even in our human imperfections the Holy Spirit will help where we may be lacking.

Walk-in Faith and may the Spirit guide you.
 
Nov 17, 2019
366
201
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New Mexico, USA
#4
I'm sensing the same kind of frustration welling up in this thread as I regularly experience. That is the frustration with the lack of one-on-one discipleship that used to be available within the institutional church. There was a time when elder men and women would instruct the youth in the ways of our Lord. And it was all done under the direct auspices of the senior pastor. In fact, it was the pastor who was doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to discipleship.

Not anymore. Now, instead of being able to extend encouragement and love to our pastors, we are met with a contact form. Just fill it out and someone will get back to you. No use trying to receive instruction from an elder, either. They are either too busy or just utterly clueless.

You may as well get online and receive better instruction from fellow believers in a Christian forum. At least you're allowed to talk about God instead of competing with other church-goers about who has the most educated kid.
 

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,453
113
#5
I'm sensing the same kind of frustration welling up in this thread as I regularly experience. That is the frustration with the lack of one-on-one discipleship that used to be available within the institutional church. There was a time when elder men and women would instruct the youth in the ways of our Lord. And it was all done under the direct auspices of the senior pastor. In fact, it was the pastor who was doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to discipleship.

Not anymore. Now, instead of being able to extend encouragement and love to our pastors, we are met with a contact form. Just fill it out and someone will get back to you. No use trying to receive instruction from an elder, either. They are either too busy or just utterly clueless.

You may as well get online and receive better instruction from fellow believers in a Christian forum. At least you're allowed to talk about God instead of competing with other church-goers about who has the most educated kid.
Yah I wanted feedback because the material I posted above and in post 3 will be spoken on a men's group I'm starting that will include the teen youth boys in our church too.
 
Nov 17, 2019
366
201
43
60
New Mexico, USA
#6
Yah I wanted feedback because the material I posted above and in post 3 will be spoken on a men's group I'm starting that will include the teen youth boys in our church too.
Okay, then. You don't have to be as harsh as I am on the subject.

But please reiterate the desperate need for individual discipleship. It's not enough, in my opinion, to read books by pastors, hear sermons, or listen to podcasts. Keeping people at arm's length isn't working.
 

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,453
113
#7
Okay, then. You don't have to be as harsh as I am on the subject.

But please reiterate the desperate need for individual discipleship. It's not enough, in my opinion, to read books by pastors, hear sermons, or listen to podcasts. Keeping people at arm's length isn't working.
Harsh? What you mean? This will be a hands on group. A group who does things together more than just study and go back to the house. It will involve outdoor events and helping others.