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You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
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Speaker 1:You can mentor. Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. This is Zach, and I'm with my friend Shane. Shane, say hi. Hey, Zach.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much
Speaker 2:for having me. Really excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Shane, it's a it's a pleasure, my friend. It's really, really good to be here with you today. I met Shane a couple months ago, and they're just doing this amazing thing that is called it's such a cool name. It sounds like it needs to be on, like, a poster. It's called 10 by 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah. There you go. And I'm I mean, I obviously am gonna allow Shane to explain what 10 by 10 is. But before we do that, Shane, how the heck is it going today, my friend?
Speaker 2:Hey. I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm, in the Atlanta, Georgia area, enjoying the spring, enjoying the baseball season, you know, all those good things. So yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Doing well.
Speaker 1:So is baseball the main sport up there?
Speaker 2:I mean, football, you know, in the South football, but it is the main sport for my family for sure. We, I I grew up in Arizona. Baseball is is everything out there just because of spring training and everything. And now my boys have quickly taken to it. So the county we're in here in Georgia, baseball is a very big deal.
Speaker 2:Some of the best high school teams in the country for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Cool, Man, I I didn't know just the sport of baseball is like its own culture. Like, there's, like, different language. I mean, it's I mean, it is nuts. Like, I'm I'm coaching my kid's team right now.
Speaker 1:He's 10, and this is his first time to ever play. And, I mean, I'm a sports guy. Right? Like, I know football. I know basketball.
Speaker 1:But as a coach, I look like I have no clue what I'm doing, and our team is getting smoked every time.
Speaker 2:So That's amazing. Yeah. It is. I mean, it is. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a it's a complex game. You know, they say it's the hardest thing to do in sports is hit a, you know, 95 mile per hour fastball, which is increasingly not even, you know, the the top velocity of most big leaders these days. So it's progressing. It's getting more and more global. Like, it's, yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2:It's a fun time to be a baseball fan and to be a dad of, of some baseball players that that I'm really enjoying as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, Shane. So I have to ask you a question.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Please.
Speaker 1:So it says on your bio that the main thing you wanna do in your lifetime is you wanna dunk a basketball. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I've had that on there for a while. Honestly, when I first put it in my bio, I think I had a better shot of making it happen. Like I think I was I was like decently close to at least touching an LA fitness room, which is probably about ten ten feet anyway or nine feet anyways. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's becoming let's just say I'm going backwards in that aspiration, but I'm gonna leave it out there. Why not? You know? Why not? Why not set some goals to to go after?
Speaker 1:Lord still works miracles, Shane.
Speaker 2:So If he's happy. And that would be that would be a significant one. Yeah.
Speaker 1:For sure. Oh, man. Alright, Shane. So, before we get into Tim by Tim, why don't you just tell us about you, about your family, and just kinda how you stumbled into, mentoring, 10 by 10, all of that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. Thanks for asking. Yeah. I, as I mentioned, I grew up in, Arizona.
Speaker 2:That's where I spent most of my elementary school years, middle school, high school. I would say I had some significant mentors there. Many of them were actually coaches, baseball coaches. I remember the first first coach who, acknowledged me as a leader and called that out of me and then asked me to step into that, on our on our baseball team. So, you know, even those moments are really significant, I think, in a person's life.
Speaker 2:But grew up, spent years. I actually worked in baseball. I don't know if we've talked about this, but I I worked in Major League Baseball for years while I was going to school trying to figure out, what am I gonna do long term? Am I gonna stay here? And then I I think I just kind of fell backward and stumbled into ministry, and that became life and career very, very quickly.
Speaker 2:So I was a youth pastor at a church out in Arizona for years, and then my family and I made the move here to Georgia. I was a high school pastor, at a church out here. Then I worked in, resources and curriculum that are all focused around next generation ministry, youth discipleship, mentorship, all of those pieces. And then just recently, I joined the team at 10x10, where we are really focused on discipleship. We're
Speaker 1:trying
Speaker 2:to address one of the most significant problems in the church, which I know we'll talk about here in a little while. But yeah, mentorship has been a huge part of my journey. It's always been fundamental to my approaches to ministry. And then I can tell you as dad, and my wife and I, we've been married for fifteen years, we have four kids. We see the importance of mentorship, both from us, you know, in in our in our parental responsibility, but also from the people that our kids are surrounded by every day and the the friendships that we hold as well.
Speaker 2:So yeah. Yeah. It's a
Speaker 1:little bit about me. Man, so I'm gonna ask you kind of a kind of a pointed question, but I feel like, Shane, I feel like that a guy like you can handle it. So what what is your definition of mentoring?
Speaker 2:That's great. That's a great question. I I would say that mentorship is intentional relationship aimed at development by someone who sets an aspirational example. Like, I think that I think that's what's those are the elements to me that are core to what mentorship is. Like, you need somebody who will walk around or walk with you through relationship.
Speaker 2:And I think that relationship, you know, as you would say, Zach, and and I would agree, is all of life. Like, that is not I mean, it can be, you know, it can be vocational. It can be trade based. It can be all those things. But the type of mentorship I feel like we're talking about is this all of life relationship that involves a person who is intentional about your development as a human being and sets an aspirational example themselves.
Speaker 2:Like, somebody that you look up to for the the right reasons, for, their character, for, the way they treat other people, the example, their their own followership of Jesus, I believe that makes up, you know, the picture of mentorship, at least in in my perspective.
Speaker 1:And that's just off the cuff right there, Shane. That's a great definition, my friend. Thanks. Good job.
Speaker 2:Thanks. Yeah. I mean, you're the expert, so I don't know. I don't know. I'm like, is that is that it?
Speaker 2:But what am I missing? Am I missing anything there?
Speaker 1:No. I think that you pretty much got it all. I mean, the things that I think of whenever you say that, Shane, is so much more Scott than Todd. And you can't take someone where you've never been. Yep.
Speaker 1:And then I think about follow me as I follow Christ. I think about sharing life, shepherding. Man, I I have been on this kick lately just like Jesus is our shepherd. And if you really dive into what is a good shepherd, like, does a shepherd do? Shepherd protects.
Speaker 1:A shepherd leads. A shepherd nurtures. A shepherd guides. He protects. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:He provides. Yeah. Oh, well, that's what Jesus does for us. Yep. And that's what I get to do as a father to my kids.
Speaker 1:Yep. And that is pretty much the cult of discipleship. Like, hey. If there's a kid who doesn't have a dad, hey. If there's a kid who just needs some more support, if there's a kid who, just is looking for affirmation, is looking for attention, they will find it somewhere.
Speaker 1:And what a great opportunity we have as the body of Christ to say, hey, here here is a way
Speaker 2:to get those needs met that are God given in a healthy way that's going to lead to good. So Yeah. Yeah. That's so good. I love that.
Speaker 2:And that idea of shepherding, yeah, is I mean, it's, of course, it's foundational. Like, that that is so much of what mentorship and discipleship is centered around, you know, within our faith. But it is one of those things that I feel like maybe we've we've lost that plot a little bit at times, and the call back to it, the desire for shepherds in and out of the church, gosh, I just feel
Speaker 1:like with Gen Z and Gen Alpha is probably more important than ever. Man, so so this is where we you know, if you say that I'm the expert, which the only person who's ever called me, that's my mom. So you and my mom have a lot in common now.
Speaker 2:Nice. Nice.
Speaker 1:Great. Congratulations. But if I'm the expert in mentoring, quote unquote, then you're the expert in the next generation, in Gen Z, in Gen Alpha. And from what I've seen, Shane, there seems to be kind of a big problem between the church and the next generation, Gen Z, Gen Alpha. What is that kind of problem?
Speaker 1:And Yeah. How has the Lord kinda called up ten by ten to try to solve that issue?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Ten by ten is really founded under the premise of solving this issue. So the goal of ten by ten is to make faith matter more to 10,000,000 young people over the next ten years in the spirit of John ten ten. I know that's a ton of tens, but you kind of get the point. And the problem that we're working to solve is one that was identified by a research group called Arbor Research Group.
Speaker 2:They did a study a handful of years ago and identified that over a million young people are walking away from faith communities annually, which is a significant issue. You know, I don't even need to really expand on that to to emphasize how important it is that we do something about it. So through some research back principles, an incredibly diverse group of leaders and thinkers, and a really collaborative effort, we are aiming to stop that drift away from faith communities. So what I will say is that we are not we are not a mission or we are not work that is prescriptive. We are not the organization that's coming along and saying, hey, if you do it x, y, and z like this, it's gonna solve all your problems.
Speaker 2:What we recognize is that in alignment with the next generations, it's important that we center voices from typically marginalized communities. We center leaders from communities of color, and that we are truly ecumenical. So those are all core foundational pillars of our work as well, We're going, hey, the next generation doesn't just look one way. They don't think one way. They're in a part of one church like they're an incredibly the most diverse generation that has ever walked the Earth.
Speaker 2:And the church should reflect that if we're truly engaging them in mentorship or discipleship, relationships. So that's a little bit about our work, about the problem specifically that we're aiming to solve, and there's a
Speaker 1:few different ways that we're going about doing that as well. Yeah. Shane, and I think that that's just spot on, man, is, like, what I love about ten by ten, you know, ten by ten is based at a Fuller Seminary. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah. We are connected. We're connected. So we were founded by Kara Powell, who is a very well known leader out of Fuller. She also leads the Fuller Youth Institute, which I know has been pivotal in my own life and ministry, as well as many others.
Speaker 2:But yeah, she she is our founder. Now we we are a part of Fuller. We're connected to Fuller, but it's really interesting. Like, are we we are almost in a little bit of like an R and D space. So we have a lot of autonomy, to to work in a
Speaker 1:lot of different sectors and areas of the church. And I think that's what I find so attractive is like I mean, don't get me wrong. We've got a massive issue on our hands. And unless someone takes an intentional, hey. We're gonna solve this.
Speaker 1:We are gonna put effort. We're gonna put money. We're gonna put resources. We're gonna put talent towards this. I don't see it getting better.
Speaker 1:But what I love about it is we're kinda at this point where, like, it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter if you're Catholic, if you're charismatic, if you're Baptist, if you're, you know, coming out of the Bible church. We all can say, hey. I think there's a problem here. And the issue, we have to work together.
Speaker 1:Yep. Because one denomination, one church, one movement, one nonprofit cannot slow this thing down. And so what I love about it is you're pretty much saying, hey. Let's keep the main things the main things. If you love Jesus, if you're making disciples, we don't we don't necessarily have an opinion as to how you're doing that.
Speaker 1:If there's fruit and if you're, you know, doing it in the name of Jesus, let's go. And I just think that that's so amazing. And it it reminds me a lot of mentoring. Like, there are so many people out there who are mentoring through basketball, mentoring through art, mentoring through dance, mentoring through writing, and Absolutely. Mentoring through after school, through summer camps.
Speaker 1:And I'm sitting here like, hey. The only thing that matters is building relationship in the name of Jesus that point them to the person of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yep. A 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, hey, like, how can I support you as you do your thing in the dance world or you do your thing in the baseball world? I mean, I obviously don't know much about baseball because my team's o and 17. But, hey. Right?
Speaker 1:I know. Dude, it's bad.
Speaker 2:It's bad. O and 17. It's Yikes.
Speaker 1:We we scored one run the other night, and you would have I mean, you you would have thought that we we just hit a grand slam. But Yeah. That's amazing. Isn't here or there. I it is time to come together, and then it is time to put aside these small things and just say, hey.
Speaker 1:Let's keep the main things the main things, Jesus, and how can we help people know him and make him known? So
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Zach, that's so right. And and and those are I mean, that's central to what we're doing. We ask people to stack hands on two things, Jesus and the faith formation of young people.
Speaker 2:Like, that's it. Now we respect, we honor, we're grateful for the distinctives that, you know, make up denominations or individual nondenominational churches or parachurch organizations that we work with or, you know, media companies that we've engaged. Like, there are so many different perspectives. We think that's beautiful. We think there's space for all of that.
Speaker 2:But that is one of the really unique things about the work that we do. The spaces that I have been in with 10 by 10. And I'll say this, like, before I was on staff, for the company that I used to be a part of, I was a liaison to 10 by 10. So I've been on the partner side, and now I'm on the staff side. They are some of the most racially and ecumenically diverse spaces that I've ever been in within Christian circles.
Speaker 2:And I mean, that says something because, you know, for a long time, we we have separated. We have maybe we've leaned really heavily into our distinctives at the cost of that unity that Jesus prayed for all those years ago. And I just think there's an opportunity, especially right now to your point, for the sake of the next generation to go, yep, we are behind Jesus and following His lead and we care about young people. And there are methodologies and we have some ideas of what we would say are our most important pieces to discipleship. But again, it's not a prescriptive, Hey, okay, well now that you've stacked hands on those two things, do these five things and everything will be solved.
Speaker 2:It's more of like, hey, what if you prioritize a handful of things? What if you thought about relational discipleship this way? And gosh, if we can spread that throughout the church, I I think we're gonna see a significant change in the way that we
Speaker 1:engage generations. And I don't know. I mean, the people that I've interacted with, they're hungry. Like, they they they don't have time for like, they want the real deal. They want worship, and they want discipleship, and they are kinda going all in in a way that I haven't ever seen.
Speaker 1:And, I mean, I think it might say this in the Bible, but the harvest is plenty, my friend.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And, it's a cool deal. Like, there's I you know, it's that Matthew, I think it's Matthew 25. It's the simultaneous rise of the wheat in the weeds. Right? Like, we quite possibly have never been in a generation that is more, quote, unquote, kinda wicked, but we've also never seen more righteousness.
Speaker 1:And I think over the next couple years, couple decades, that is just going to get more and more. I mean, this this, like, oh, we just go to church on Sundays, but it really doesn't impact who I am on Tuesday or you know? I think that's gonna go away, and the the light in the dark is gonna get even more obvious. That's Mhmm. Just my opinion.
Speaker 2:But Yeah. No. That's good. That's good. It's interesting.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, even as you describe the next generation, they are they're not religious, but they are spiritual. We have a partner called Springtide. They're a research organization that has released some reports that are so useful. I would encourage anybody who's listening to go to Springtide's website and just download some of the resources because we'll give you an insight to how spiritually they open or how spiritually open Gen Z and Gen Alpha are, but how skeptical they are of, institutional religion and all those different pieces. And some of that is like, yeah, we're seeing some things within their culture.
Speaker 2:But, know, Zach, I think you would agree with this. Like, some of the you mentioned that word wickedness earlier, like, it connected to that scripture. Some of it is this world that they're growing up in. Like like, I I would even say much of it is our responsibility as adults. Like, we've created this world.
Speaker 2:We've created quite a few messes. We've created some really significant messes, and I think some really substantial mistrust in the church. So, of course, the next generation looks and goes, wait, If if that's what following Jesus is about, I don't want anything to do with that institution. I do like the principles. I I feel like what Jesus teaches about loving your neighbor and and loving god, like, all of those things, I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 2:But the church doesn't always look like that. And that that, like, I think that even gets to the core issue of where you started on that last point, which is there's a really open and excited generation. They're going to be discipled into something. My hope is, and I believe, you know, at 10 by 10, our hope is, that they would be discipled into a church that is better than the one that we were handed or better, you know, than we found it. That we would hand this thing off healthier, full of more leaders of integrity, full of systems who've uprooted injustice and have dealt with some of these issues for the sake of the next generation and for the sake of the great commission that we were given two thousand years ago.
Speaker 2:Like, that is really central, I think, to all of this as well. So there is like a there's kind of a couple levels to our work as well. There's like the on the ground discipleship, mentorship of young people, and there's some of the higher level, like reform of these institutions, these churches, these organizations who are the ones that are mentoring. Because somebody on our staff, one of our senior leaders, his name is Ray Chang, he says often, like, we don't want to disciple young people into unhealthy or toxic churches. Like, that's a problem.
Speaker 2:And I could not agree with that more. So, there's there's a lot of layers to to what is possible with this next generation. And I think the stewardship and the responsibility that we hold as leaders, you know, within the faith, but, within The United States as a whole, if if you will. That's a
Speaker 1:good word, my man. Okay. So as you've taken a look at some of this research, and I just think people who do that kind of stuff are just out of this world fantastic. I obviously am not that guy. I'm the guy who shares his opinions whenever no one asks.
Speaker 1:There you go. And I just say, I think a lot. And so Yeah. But these people who have done the research, is there anything that has stuck out to you and you're like, oh my gosh. Like, that, I didn't see that coming.
Speaker 1:And if if that's true, we gotta do
Speaker 2:something about it. Yeah. There is, there's quite a bit of research around the next generation, thankfully, especially connected to their spiritual openness. I mentioned Springtide just a little bit ago. A few years ago, They conducted a survey, and here's some specifics around what I was talking about.
Speaker 2:They found that 77% of young people said that they are spiritual. So they're open. A little bit before that, August 2019, this came from this is gonna maybe sound funny to your listeners, but, it came from MTV Insights, which is a research arm, which I feel like if anybody's connected to the next generation or just culture as a whole, they might be. But this was really fascinating. They had a thousand participants, and among those participants, they were these were ages 14 to 29.
Speaker 2:So these are now probably like your seniors in high school, a little bit like early college, you know, to late twenties. Eighty seven percent of that group knew their zodiac sign. Seventy five percent trust that astrology works, and sixty five percent regularly check their horoscopes. So all of that is to say, we have a generation that is seeking. They're looking for guidance.
Speaker 2:And mean, this is spiritual, what we're talking about here. But as it pertains to mentorship, like, direction. They're looking for help. They're looking for guidance and support as to how Mhmm. To navigate life as a whole.
Speaker 2:But and here's the kicker. 39% of of adults today, Christian adults today, say that they aren't engaged in discipleship. So over or not. I'm sorry. Just under half of Christian adults who also need that guidance, who these young people will be in just a few short years are going, well, I'm not I'm not getting, like, that type of spiritual mentorship, discipleship within my church community.
Speaker 2:And that is a significant problem. You know, I I don't wanna I don't wanna make too many assumptions. I I think we have to let the data tell the story. But I I can't help but wonder, like, is this part of the problem? Like, is this why over a million young people walk away from faith communities every year?
Speaker 2:Because they're looking for guidance, and they're not finding it within the church. That's something that I think is worth worth addressing for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's so fascinating, Shane, like and I'm gonna start talking about my past and just kind of the things that I've experienced, but just, like, the amount of people that I know who have been intentionally discipled is small. Mhmm. And what I've seen is I mean, it is the parable of the sower. Right? Like, some seeds get tossed on good soil on the rocky, the birds, the weeds choke it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And especially in today's world, we're just like, there are so many things out there that can just choke out someone's faith. And as as a young person, you've gotta deal with all of all of the temptations, you know, like, all of the sin and things like that. When you get older, you have to deal with the fact that life maybe doesn't turn out how you thought it would. You have to deal with disappointments.
Speaker 1:You gotta deal with, you know, kids and jobs and promotions and marriages. And Right. That's hard stuff, man. Yeah. Just like, it is so, easy and so understandable that your faith would kinda take a backseat to all those things unless someone has taught you how to persevere and suffer well.
Speaker 1:That's good. Unless someone has taught you to really deal with the ups and downs and how to find their worth in Jesus and how to go to Jesus and how to like, someone said, you know, we've been dependent on people to feed us. They've been depending on people to, give us water. We need to learn how to fish. We need to learn how to how to how to kinda dig up our own wells.
Speaker 1:And Yeah. And just like, it's that second Timothy two two. You know? Like, hey. I am gonna teach someone, and then their job is to teach someone, and their job is to teach someone.
Speaker 1:But if if one of those chains doesn't do their job, then we're in trouble.
Speaker 2:Yep. So Oh, okay. Okay. This is really good. I I love the point that you just brought up, and it connects it connects to something for me that I wonder if, you know, if we follow that chain and we talk about some of some of the May that not be right?
Speaker 2:Some of the mainstream, you know, movements of church within The United States, I wonder if maybe that that chain has gotten a little bit what's the right word for it? Confused or a a little bit misplaced at times. But what I mean by that is if our primary of developing in our faith or discipleship is consuming or consumption of a service or a program once a week, then we're actually not continuing that chain. Like, from all, you know, across the board, we're not teaching adults how to move from being consumers to like true disciples and followers of Jesus. And if those adults haven't built that muscle, then there's no way we're going to teach it to the next generation.
Speaker 2:Like, we have, in some ways, like we've we've raised and and I don't know about you, Zach, but, like, I'm a part of that, you know, adult generation now who that was my church experience to some extent. Like, you come, you consume, you take it in, you go through the right programs. You may be in a small group or something like that, and all of those things are really good. But some of the work that we're calling leaders to from 10x10 is going, No, no, no. We know we've been talking about relational discipleship within the American church you know, for a long time.
Speaker 2:We understand that there have been models that have been aimed at that for forty years at this point. What we're saying is this generation is different. So, I want to honor the models that existed, and they worked for a generation. You know, in the early nineties, late eighties, like there was that massive shift, especially within American evangelicalism. Like this is where the rise of the megachurch came from and, you know, church for untouched people, all of those things.
Speaker 2:And it was serving a need in response to a generation who was different than their parents. Well, now we're in another one of those moments and we have to be willing to go, you know what? Maybe there's a different approach. And I would submit, 10 by 10, we would submit that that approach is truly leaning into relational discipleship. Not like not just creating the space or the program, but actually calling the mentors and adults across the congregation to embracing relational discipleship, not just for an hour a week, but as a part of their lifestyle and our stewardship with the next generation.
Speaker 2:So that's one of those things that I'm like, I think that chain, like, we we can polish it up. Like, it can it can be stronger as it gets passed down generation to generation.
Speaker 1:Well and I think one thing that's so hard about that, Shane, is everyone likes to do what's comfortable. Everyone likes to do what's always worked. Yeah. But I feel like this new generation, these these, I say kids. They're not kids, but they're kids.
Speaker 1:They are demanding us to be humble, and they're demanding us to shift. And they're they they are saying, hey. I am different. And unless you figure out how to cook the meal in a way that I like it, I'm not gonna eat it. Oh.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So and so, man, like, as mentors, as believers, like, man, may we rise up in humility. May we ask questions. May we get curious. May we be willing to leave our comfort zone and enter into theirs and say, Hey, I might not be cool.
Speaker 1:I don't know all the songs. And I Yeah. I like to, you know, I like to tuck in my shirt, I'm gonna love you. I will show up and I'm gonna ask questions and I'm going to be a learner. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Why? Because you matter. I value your salvation. I value you more than I value my comfort.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. That's so good. And, you know, I think one of the best examples of a mentor that I've seen, you know, through my years of of leading in ministry spaces, is an older woman who by her own account would say that she was not the coolest person. You know, she she could have been a grandmother to the middle schoolers that she was leading.
Speaker 2:You know, I I went to high school with her her son and daughter-in-law, so like that was kind of some of the generational differences there. And she admittedly stepped in and was like, I want to invest in middle school girls, but I don't have a ton in common. Like, I don't think they're gonna think I'm the coolest person ever. And she stepped in their lives authentically as herself and authentically as a follower of Jesus herself on her own journey and just showed up for him. And you know what?
Speaker 2:Like, I feel like that is what we have to aim for. Of course, like, the college, you know, the college age cool person, like, who's gonna show up and young, you know, middle schoolers or high schoolers or kids are gonna be like, they're gonna gravitate to them. Like, please. Like, that can be really, really good. But when we're thinking about, like, who we want to put into the lives of the next generation, a couple of the things that you said are so important.
Speaker 2:The authenticity of the individual, the humility of the individual to acknowledge, like, my job is not to try to be cool to these, like, the next generation. My job is, like, to authentically show up and to show them, hey. I'm following Jesus myself. I slip up along the way. I have a mistake, like, whatever, but I'm, like, going after it.
Speaker 2:And then three, curiosity. Like, if we can find mentors and place them in the lives of young people who are truly curious, there's this moment in, Ted Lasso. I don't know if you watched Ted Lasso, but, in the first season, he's throwing darts, with, with his boss's ex husband. And, her ex husband, you know, he's just, like, super prideful. Like, there's a lot there.
Speaker 2:Thinks he's shutting them down. And then Ted starts throwing the darts. And he's like, you know what? You should have thought, like, if you would have asked me, hey, Ted, have you ever played darts? I would have told you.
Speaker 2:I play every day with, you know, every Saturday with my dad, whatever, whatever, because he thought he wasn't very good at it. He winds up being incredible. And then Ted quotes Walt Whitman at the end, and he says, you know, one of the most important things is to be curious, not judgmental. And that that little scene, that little clip, I've used it and shown it in a bunch of different spaces, is so important for our approach to mentorship. Like, if we can be curious with the next gen generation, we can ask questions like you mentioned and be really slow to pass judgment about their habits or their worldviews or the perspective on political issue or, like, whatever else just because they're different.
Speaker 2:If we approach them with curiosity, goodness sake, like, I believe they are the best generations on planet earth right now. I believe it because of just how natural it is to them to treat people with kindness and to show people love. That is so in line with what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I feel like they have more in alignment with that than we often give them credit for. And if we can just show up in their lives and be authentic and be humble and be curious, we're gonna be able to help them see, hey, the person you are, the the person you want to be, the aspirations you have in life, believe it or not, those align with who Jesus made you to be and what it means to follow him.
Speaker 2:So I just think there's something to everything you're saying and to finding and being the type of mentors and leaders who embody those things.
Speaker 1:Man, like, I've been thinking about this for the last couple of weeks just like, okay. As a husband, as a father, as a mentor, just as a follower of Jesus, I'm like, okay. What is what is my goal here? You know? It's like, what am I trying trying to do with my wife?
Speaker 1:What am I trying to do with my own kids? What am I trying to do with those people that I mentor, that I spend time with? And, obviously, I'm not perfect, but my kid actually was talking about the fruit of the spirit. And, you know, he's in fourth grade, and he goes to a goes to a, to a thing, and they had him, like, learn all of the all of the, you know, love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self control, you know, da da da. And as we were kinda talking about that, I was like, man, that that really does sum up like the best mentor.
Speaker 1:It's like, man, if you can love no matter what, and if you can have joy Referring. If you can have, you know, self control to not assume, to not judge, to not become angry, if if you can have peace, if you can have gentleness, if you can have kindness So man, like, sign me up for that. And I think that's gonna be a course that I'm gonna have to take for the rest of my life because at any given point, I am not doing awesome at at least one of them. You know what I'm saying? Yep.
Speaker 2:For sure. But
Speaker 1:For sure. My man just, like, may we become more like Jesus. And Jesus didn't do the same thing for every person. He knew what they needed. He Good.
Speaker 1:He, he asked questions. Yeah. You know, he showed up, and Yeah. He's a stud. So
Speaker 2:That's just so good. Yeah. That's so good, Zach. Love that.
Speaker 1:But alright, man. Well, that's all that we got for today, but is there anything that you would like to end on?
Speaker 2:Oh, man. I I feel like what you just said is so important. And I mentioned earlier that all the work that we're doing is 10 by 10 is in the spirit of John ten ten, which is the fact that Jesus came to give us life and life to the full. I think full life is full of the fruit of the spirit. What you just described is the example and really puts into words what a full life looks like.
Speaker 2:Like, who wouldn't want that for the next generation, and who wouldn't wanna model that? And, you know, to your point, I think that's the stewardship we have. We're not gonna get it perfect, but if we can if we can approach it with humility and authenticity and curiosity, I feel like we'll get it right more often than we get it wrong. And for the sake of the next generation, like, it's worth it. It's worth it for us to do that work.
Speaker 2:It's worth it for us to approach young people, you know, on a person by person basis like you described. Jesus was was obviously incredible at that. And at times, people didn't understand Jesus because He did it. You know, they were ready to throw rocks at him and go, like, woah. Why would you hang out with them?
Speaker 2:Why would you, you know, have a conversation with her or whatever else? And I'm like, no. That's what this has always been about. And that's the beauty of what I think we get to do, for the next generation and, for the sake of making faith matter more to them. So I would say, you know, to everybody listening, what if we took that approach, and and would it be worth it?
Speaker 2:Like, what is it worth to you to get this as right as we possibly can for young people? To me, I think it's worth everything.
Speaker 1:I think it's worth everything, and it can transform the world.
Speaker 2:Oh,
Speaker 1:yeah. Like, literally transform the world. Transform generations, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:But Yep. Yeah. That's good. Oh, man. Alright, Shane.
Speaker 1:I'll toss all of your info, in the show notes. And, man, just super thankful for you. Thankful for 10 by 10.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Nick.
Speaker 1:And, thank you that you reminded people that no matter who they are, that they can mentor. And, it's a big deal, and the next generation's worth it. 100%. So
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah. Thanks, Zach. Thanks so much for the work you're doing, and thanks for inviting me to be a part of this conversation.
Speaker 1:Of course, man. Alright, dude. I'll see you. Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Give us that five star rating and share this podcast with your mentoring friends.
Speaker 1:Learn more at youcanmentor.com. Thank you.