First you "embrace for the race" - tell someone, like Paul did Timothy, that they are your "true child in the faith" and a "man of God." Then you set the pace - show them how to run.

This is the heart of the matter. We embrace people face-to-face and we set the pace side-by-side.

We cannot hide. People must see us living our faith. We cannot ask others to go where we have not been nor do what we have not. Faith can happen through us only if it first happens to us.

Running is a great metaphor for living in Christ. The two activities...

. Both require effort. There is always the temptation to give up and stop. Someone said, "Whenever I feel the need for exercise, I just lie real still until it goes away."

. Both allow for individual style. No two people run, or live their faith, exactly alike. The temptation is to try to make someone do it just like someone else.

. Both require those who would do it together to stay with each other and to go the same direction. Satan wants us to divide and scatter.

. Both demand that we carry only what we need. How easy it is to pick up needless weight! We need the gospel and only the gospel. Everything else is a potential burden or distraction.

The Avanti Italia ministry challenges young adults to minister and share their faith. This forces each worker to refine his or her understanding of the gospel. Some begin frustrated. One said, "I've grown up in church, but I've never seen anyone lead someone else to Christ."

Let's face it. Since most of us older Christians were never mentored well, we often don't know how to mentor others. We must learn from Jesus and Paul. Consider two things they did.

a. They spent a lot of time with their associates. Jesus lived and traveled with his disciples for at least three years. Paul did that with his fellow workers for many years. Those with them watched and followed them into many dramatic and awkward situations. They saw their mentors in moments of weakness, anger and pain. "Setting the pace" takes time and energy and courage. Discipleship training is more than a weekly Bible class.

b. They sent them out often and debriefed them when they returned. We see many examples of this both in the gospels and in Paul's writings. At the Florence Bible School we give the workers assignments and send some to churches in other cities. Sometimes we neither prepare nor debrief them adequately, but they always learn more by doing than they could learn merely by hearing us talk about it. We all learn by imitating, failing and trying again.

What are the people around you learning as they watch you? Are you giving your attention to those who matter most? Helping them learn from their experiences? Setting the pace?

They are watching, you know.

Gary and Jennifer Williams
Florence Bible School
Italy