This is how mentoring will change the world.

I love the game of basketball. It is no stretch to say that I am a basketball junkie. I watch it. I play it. I talk about it. I read about it. It is my favorite hobby.

So how did I become so infatuated with the game of basketball? Well, that’s pretty simple.

When I was growing up, I had a brother who was eight years older than me. He loved Michael Jordan and the game of basketball. I wanted to be just like my older brother, so I started to love Jordan and hoops too.

I watched him watch basketball. We collected basketball cards and read magazines. Our summers were filled with playing basketball in our driveway from sunup to sundown.

I learned how to love the game of basketball from someone who I loved and from someone who loved me. Later on in my life, I became a basketball coach for teenagers and taught them all that I knew about the game. I am teaching my sons how to play as well. The cycle of basketball love continues...

Isn’t this the same formula that Christ used with the disciples?

Jesus loved the disciples and the disciples loved Jesus. They followed him around for three years and watched how he lived his life. They began to do the things that he did and everything the learned they learned from being with Jesus. As they began to grow their own ministries, they were simply just doing what they saw their friend Jesus do.

And this is mentoring. You build relationships with someone and invite them into your life. You spend time with them and, soon enough, they will begin to take interest in what you take interest in.

They will love what you love. They will do what you do. And this is how the Kingdom of God advances. People learn by example, as so much more is caught than taught. Others learn from you by being around you and odds are they will teach others what they learned from you.

This is what Jesus meant when he called us to go and make disciples. Relationships change lives. Someone taught you and now you teach other people.

This is how the Gospel will advance and how souls are saved. This is how mentoring will change the world.