In Philippians 4:9, Paul makes a gutsy statement: "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice."

Um, yeah, can you say, "Gutsy"? Pretty sure I'd be scared to tell people to put into practice anything they learned from me, unless someone was wanting to live out clumsiness on a daily basis.

But Paul is resting in the fact that his life was a complete pursuit of Christ and His call. Just check out what he writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1 - "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

Paul understood a simple truth about mentoring and discipleship. People usually find it easier to follow someone they can touch and see, so that means we have the humbling responsibility of living out Christ for those in our circle of influence.

To be able to mentor others, we have to first accept the responsibility that people will absorb whatever they have "heard or seen" in us. This doesn't mean that being a mentor requires perfection. It just means that it requires guts - the guts to follow so hard after Christ that we can confidently tell others to "put into practice" what they have seen in us.

So what do you say? Do you have the guts to be a mentor?