How Are You Like a Meerkat?
Do you know what a “meerkat” is? I didn’t either till I read about it in a magazine this week. Meerkats live in Africa and are very social creatures. Meerkats know how to disciple their young. They have different job descriptions within the clan one of which are a group of adult meerkats called “mentors.”
Mentors teach the pups the dos and don’ts of being a meerkat–such as how to spot and avoid predators and how to find and eat food. For example, meerkats often eat scorpions, a dangerous meal. To teach a young pup how, the mentor brings it a scorpion. Depending on the age of the pup, the scorpion will either be dead (for beginners) or alive but stingless (for advanced). the mentor watches how the pup interacts with the scorpion, prompting certain behavior as needed.
Meerkats are among only a few animals on earth known to actively teach their young how to survive. In fact, when raised as pets, isolated from a meerkat group, they fail to teach their young pups because no mentor was present as they grew up. The very act of teaching is learned from mentors.
That’s unfortunately where many Christians find themselves. their parents (mentors) did not know how to disciple their children. All their parents did with them was take them to Sunday School every week at best, and so they have the idea, “Well, I turned out pretty good,” so that’s all they know to do with their children. Then 20 years later—what happened? Teens and youth who have no more interest in God.
So what are you doing actively every day to raise your child to be a committed Christ follower? Share with us your mentoring style. How are you like a meerkat?
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