Growing in Wisdom

One of the great things about this conference was we were able to participate in various breakout sessions throughout the days we were there. Some examples of sessions included "Helping Young Adults Grow in Wisdom," "Jesus and World Religions," "Church Planting and the Story of Gideon," "The Hope of the Gospel," etc. In other words, with so many great opportunities it was hard to choose where to go and who to hear. But choices were made and we were able to go to variety of talks.

The first session I went to was "Helping Young Adults Grow in Wisdom" by Mark Matlock. I thought this would give me some more universal principles that could be applied not only to working with young adults but also to working with youth in a congregation.

This talk really focused on mentoring as a main way for helping young adults grow in wisdom. Now first, I suppose I should define wisdom as Mark defined wisdom. Of course there is earthly wisdom, that which the world tell us is valuable. However, the world's storyline of wisdom has a beginning and an end. And then there is wisdom from above, Godly wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." And it is this wisdom, the wisdom that God offers that opens us up to a completely different storyline. Mark then said that there are generally two ways that people acquire wisdom: direct exposure to an environment or through a mediator or mentor.

He used the illustration of "The Mythic Journey of the Hero," the journey from inefficient to master. We start out with an ordinary life and then suddenly we find a call to action. This call to action is when all of a sudden our ordinary life is upset and we are left asking the question what is going on. Then most people will meet their mentor who will train and challenge us. Then, we will face more trials and with the help of the training and mentor, we will reach maturity.

As I heard him talk about this I wondered how many of young adults are facing the call to action and the trials without a mentor. What happens when we go through those times that rock our world without a mentor or someone to help us navigate this tumultuous times? Because I'm guessing that most young adults are in that stage of "call to action" right now. There are so many young adults out there looking to make a difference and change the world. And at the same time we are just getting our feet wet and starting jobs, careers, families, relationships, etc. So, how do we work our way through this and figure out the proper response to this call to action that we're all feeling?

Mark was a huge proponent of a mentoring program to help young adults grow in wisdom and I find myself agreeing with much of what he shared. Whether this is through pairing people one-on-one with a mentor, forming a small group with someone older as a leader, or having older married couples mentor those in the beginning of their marital journey mentoring can be a useful tool for helping young adults grow and mature.

We are not meant to be on this mythic journey alone or without the help of those who have come before us. Through these relationships we can help a new generation of "heroes" grow in wisdom and find their way and be strengthened for the trials to come.