Kevin Lynch - Original Post 2

I entered into my second conversation with Sam with one question for him in mind – “If you could offer one piece of advice to yourself at 20 years old, what would it be?”  He first, like he usually does, asked my what my reasoning was for asking the question.  The think I admire about him is that when I ask him a question or state something, he wants me to think about my intent for asking the questions that I ask.  He then told me that his mentor at my age told him to “Have fun” in all the things that it does when Sam asked his mentor the same question I asked him, and it was the worst advice he ever received.  Learning from Sam, he told me that his desire to have fun became his top priority and is landed him in some horrible places that he felt so far from God.

Sam said that the piece of advice he wished he received instead of the advice to have fun was to “seek in a ministry partner in every relationship” he has in his life.  The reason for this is because he knew he was going into ministry, but he never realized how badly he needed friends, family and a wife that could partner with him in ministry.  He said “to do ministry without a partner is to swim in the ocean by yourself in hurricane season – Michael Phelps might risk it and survive it, but you’ll drown if you don’t swim with a buddy.” 

Leaving the conversation with Sam, I went through the relationships I have in my life and considered who in it could help better me in ministry and sharpen me in my life.  Looking through this, my standards for relationship with friendship, marriage and even acquaintances has evolved quite a bit.  I have started looking for people who could walk with me, and those who I could walk with to serve the Lord better together than we do on our own.  Similarly to my last conversation with Sam, it remains essentially important to surround myself with wisdom and people around me that will grow me as a person and aide me to live as a more devoted Christ-follower every single day.  As I think through these questions and Sam’s advice, I feel challenged to be a better friend and family member to those around me, as I seek the same from those around me.