The banyan tree is a pretty tree with wide-spreading branches that cover a lot of space. It grows so wide that it does not allow anything under it to receive sunlight and rain needed for nurturing.
The aspen tree is one that grows straight up with an interwined underground root system that ties it together. Because it grows straight up and spreads outward under the ground, it allows everything on the forest floor below it to receive sun and rain for growth.
In describing the spiritual mentors or leaders needed in the world, Dr. Leighton Ford said leaders need to be aspens rather than banyans, allowing others to grow as well.
Ford spoke about spiritual mentoring during the 2013 National Gather of the Fellowship of Presbyterians and ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
The president of Leighton Ford Ministries and brother-in-law of famed evangelist Billy Graham, Ford asked those in attendance during a plenary session about the people in their lives who had believed in them, loved them and prayed for them – those people who made a difference.
“Who has been a Paul to your Timothy?” he asked, noting how Graham had been one of those people for him since he married Graham’s sister Jean and worked alongside the renowned pastor for 30 years. He also mentioned his son Sandy, who died from a heart condition while a student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, as a source of encouragement for him.
“There is a challenge of leadership from generation to generation,” he said. “Who will be that next generation?”
Ford said spiritual mentoring/direction is a matter of helping people pay attention to what God is doing in their lives and then responding, rather than just counseling or coaching them. He called it a “spiritual friendship.”
“Jesus called His followers friends,” Ford said. “It’s not giving directions or dictating what to do. It’s listening deeply as a friend and pointing out what God is saying in their lives.”
Ford said those spiritual mentors need to be encouraged to take risks and observed that the No. 1 value of evangelical leaders in the United States is frenzied business, or “paying continuous partial attention.”
He emphasized the need to be aware of what God is doing now, citing a passage from Henri Nouwen that said, “… Therefore the question is not how to keep people busy but how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer listen to the calling voice of God who speaks in silence.”
“Pay attention to what God is doing right now,” Ford said. “When you finish one thing, don’t rush into the next. Remember that we’re in His presence.”
Ford noted the importance of developing a heart for spiritual mentoring, being “friends on the journey” and “artists of the soul,” to offer friendship and hospitality.
“As we listen to that one incomparable voice, we need to find who God wants us to be and speak with the voice He has given us,” Ford said.
Noting that spiritual mentoring is Christ-centered, Ford shared a quote from Ben Johnson that said, “Evangelism is a special case of spiritual direction, helping people to see how God is at work in their lives already.”
“Our great prayer and task is to help each other be so in touch with Him that they hear His voice in our voice,” Ford explained.
He asked Peter Barnes to join him on stage for a moment. Barnes shared something Ford told him 36 years ago that stuck with him. He said he was told that sometimes in spiritual ministry the candle burns high and bright. At other times it just flickers. Pray that it always burns.
“Is there someone you can be a friend to along the journey?” Ford asked. “You may say, ‘I don’t have that much to give.’ Yes you do. You have Jesus. You have His Word, a lifetime of experiences, successes and mistakes.
“Open your heart of treasures the Lord has given you, and you will be blessed.”