Ep.12 | Gandalf Isn't Coming (Why Mentors Fail Us)

We all long for the "Swiss Army knife" mentor, a perfect, all-knowing sage like Gandalf, Dumbledore, or Obi-Wan Kenobi. But Episode 12 of the New Adam podcast, featuring Ryan Reeves and Brett Clemmer (celebrating his 25th anniversary at Man in the Mirror), argues that this pursuit leads to disappointment. Instead of looking for a single, flawless figure with "secret knowledge" to guide every aspect of your life, the key is to adopt a "tool-for-the-job" approach to mentorship. After assessing specific deficiencies in areas like career, marriage, and finances, men should seek out multiple, imperfect mentors-the hands, ears, and feet of the body of Christ-each gifted in a particular area to offer targeted wisdom, even if that means consulting a book or simply avoiding the mistakes of a counter-example.