Movement of Discipleship Key 4: Provide Mentorship and Accountability

In the Bible, Moses and Joshua set for us a dynamic mentoring and accountability relationship. Bro Low Loy Nghee gleans from their example to teach us.

In January 2024, our General Superintendent enlightened our AG community on the seven movements of MM33, partnering God to witness “the greatest revival of our time”. Gleaning from the lives and relationship of Moses and Joshua, this article dovetails into one of the movements – discipleship, with attributes of mentoring and accountability to encourage us as D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E. to be “a people transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to be a testimony and impact for God wherever they are.”

The impetus and passion for Moses and Joshua to work together were already framed and also the opportunities for Moses to impart to Joshua.

Determine.

Moses was 80 years old when he spoke to Pharoah (Exodus7:7) to free the children of Israel from slavery as the initial objective. It was this period that Moses was connected with a young Joshua who became his assistant (Numbers 11:28). This relationship went on till Moses was 120 years old (Deuteronomy 31:2-3), when the leadership of Israel was handed to Joshua. Throughout, both resolved to serve God and the children of Israel in the search of the Promised Land as the primary objective!

Inspire.

God’s work never ends abruptly or His promise fizzles out because the passion to fulfill His objectives is inspired by the Holy Spirit, with God in the center of it all. In the surprised encounter with God, Moses stepped out of exile to serve Him and returned to Egypt to liberate the children of Israel from afflictions (Exodus 3:15-17). Joshua witnessed firsthand how God through Moses severely dealt with Pharoah and the Egyptians that eventually freed the children of Israel from captivity. The impetus and passion for Moses and Joshua to work together were already framed and also the opportunities for Moses to impart to Joshua.

There is humility and strength when one subjects him/herself to someone in authority for a higher objective.

Servitude.

There is humility and strength when one subjects him/herself to someone in authority for a higher objective. But it won’t be without challenges. Moses had his human sides; not at ease with delegating until the nudge from his father-in-law (Exodus 18:13-24). He had challenges opposing spy reports (Numbers 13:30-33) and was susceptible to outbursts—striking the rock for water in frustration. He failed to honor God’s holiness, which resulted in him being banished from the Promised Land (Numbers 20:10-12). Yet Joshua, ‘a man in whom is the Spirit’ (Numbers 27:18) remained steadfast and undeterred even for cameo duties. He alerted Moses of the going on at the foot of the mountain where the Ten Commandments were obtained (Exodus 32:17-18). He did not depart from the tent where/when God and Moses communicated (Exodus 33:11).

Courage.

In leading, there is a need for some level of audacity to embrace differing comments or assessments presented by the minority. Moses, in yielding to the daunting reports from the ten spies (Numbers 13:31-32) instead of the other two reports (Numbers 14:6-8), resulted in a longer-than needed wandering in the wilderness. And for those who have to undertake tasks, there must be guts in taking up challenges even in unfamiliar or uncharted ground. In the run up to the very first military campaign (Exodus 17:9-10), the confidence Moses placed on the inexperienced Joshua, who was equal to task in being bold and brave in getting the troops organized and battled the Amalekites, resulted in a memorial victory (Exodus 17:9-14)! With God, exceptions abound in being ‘strong and courageous’ as asserted by Moses (Deuteronomy31:6,7,23) and echoed by Joshua (Joshua 1:6-9)!

Age and inexperience should not be a showstopper or derailer to any task.

Impact.

In any relationship, there ought to be patience with an outlook of positive outcomes and not be shrouded with negative thoughts or ill feelings, like suspicion, jealousy or threats. When specifically tasked by God (Numbers 27:22-23), Moses simply acted by laying hands and commissioning Joshua publicly that led to a smooth changeover of leadership (Deuteronomy 34:7-9). While the search of the Promised Land was mooted by Moses, the outcomes were achieved years later under Joshua’s watch as ‘the Lord gave to Israel all the land that He swore to give to their fathers…not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass’ (Joshua 21:43-45).

Potential.

Age and inexperience should not be a showstopper or derailer to any task. As a former slave, it should not be a surprise that Joshua did not receive any military training and yet, still hand-picked by Moses to undertake an existential task! As a former prince (Exodus 2:14), Moses should have military or self-defense abilities but yet, these seemingly had no influence as he opted to believe and trusted in the potential of Joshua’s yet-to-tap-on abilities in a battle (Exodus 17: 9-13) which was a precursor to the future ones he led and fought in Canaan, beginning with the iconic victory at Jericho (Joshua 6:20).

In our MM33 journey, it is opportune for us, as believers to make the first move to attest D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E. reflected here, as a testament “to engage in the greatest work of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting the world has ever seen”—as our primary objective in the decade ahead, together!

Lead/Learn.

To lead, one has to be on top of things and be visible, like the staff (Exodus 4:1-2) that opened the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16), provided water at Horeb (Exodus 17:6) and the symbol of conquest at Rephidim (Exodus 17:9). It gives others the opportunity to observe or witness, with almost a touch-and-feel! The 40 years together suggested that Moses and Joshua had amiable interactions and perhaps, complemented each other through leading and learning. Joshua observed firsthand the experience and behavior of Moses in both his strengths and the human side as he patiently geared towards being the next leader of Israel.

Exemplary.

The lives of Moses and Joshua have already been exemplified much in the Bible with only some aspects extracted for this article. In our MM33 journey, it is opportune for us, as believers to make the first move to attest D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E. reflected here, as a testament “to engage in the greatest work of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting the world has ever seen”—as our primary objective in the decade ahead, together!