The Paul Timothy relationship began when Timothy was young and continued throughout his lifetime. There needs to be a generational emphasis in mentoring that includes a paternal and pastoral approach.

Pastors need trustworthy guides and advisors who are intentional and personal in their leadership development.  Mentoring relationships in the local church are an effective vehicle for equipping and directing young pastors.  The Scriptures are replete with examples of older, experienced leaders coming alongside the less mature.  The Paul Timothy relationship is a primary example of an effective Pastor mentoring a mentee.  A mixture of personal and paternal language is necessary and fruitful in pastoral mentoring.  Progressive training with an intentional use of proximity, especially in the beginning of a relationship, requires discernment and accountability.  At some point, a mentor must release and assign the mentee to engage in meaningful work independent of them.  The monitoring of the mentor becomes less as the mentee demonstrates faithfulness and competency in the task given.  

The qualities that existed between Paul and Timothy lay a framework for healthy mentoring relationships in pastoral ministry.  Paul’s fatherly approach to Timothy, in language and behavior, proves an effective way to develop character and competency for leadership in the local church. Paul was not an absentee father to Timothy, but instead kept him close so that he could hear his message and see his life and teaching. The alongside nature of their mentoring relationship is a key to Timothy’s growth and fruitfulness as a gospel minister.  Imitating this quality in pastoral mentoring relationships in the local church is essential.  The invitation to imitation is supplemented by the mentors sending the mentee into a work that is progressively less dependent on them.  Effective mentors have discernment to know when to release their mentees to engage in independent initiatives and when to keep them close.  The eventual call of the mentor is for the mentee to multiply what they have seen and heard in them with another.  The relationship of Paul to Timothy demonstrates how the effective mentoring of a pastor should lead to the multiplication of other pastors. 

The questions linger: Who are you mentoring, and who is mentoring you?