CULTIVATE A ‘NEW BELIEVERS’ COMMUNITY

 

If you look across a barren landscape on a cold winter day, you won’t see any green foliage flourishing anywhere—unless there’s a greenhouse somewhere on that landscape and you are able to step inside. There you will find all kinds of plants that can grow in this warm, bright environment. What’s the difference? The conditions outside the greenhouse do not promote growth, whereas the conditions inside it do. Any plant rooted and nurtured within it has a chance not only to survive, but also to thrive.

 

That’s what new believers need. In the cold, barren, often harsh, secular world and in a school environment that can be withering, how wonderful to have a spiritual “greenhouse” where students can grow roots and thrive. If they are left exclusively in their old environment and don’t receive the nurture they need to grow, they will most likely wither spiritually or even return to their old ways of living and thinking. A supportive spiritual community—where new believers are welcomed, faith is contagious, and discipleship is emphasized—is vital to their growth. 

 

Following up with new Christians includes many responsibilities, and it’s easy to focus primarily on teaching them the truths that will help them understand the Christian life and grow deeper in it. But it’s just as important to help them find their place in the family of God.

 

Over the years, I have seen many people make a decision to follow Jesus. Some have grown while others have given up and turned back to the world. The common thread for those who grow in their relationship with Jesus is getting plugged into a local fellowship of loving Christians who care about them. That’s the environment in which God’s Word and their faith takes root in their lives. Follow-up ends and disciple-making begins when a new believer becomes part of a vibrant Christian fellowship.

 

Not all churches and youth groups are naturally “new believer friendly,” so you will want to take steps to make sure you help new Christians find the kind of environment where they can thrive. Aim to make your youth group a spiritual greenhouse—a warm, bright atmosphere that stimulates growth. Here are some ways you can facilitate that:

 

Create an Entry Place For New Christians

Often churches and youth groups pick up certain lingo, cultural habits, behavioral patterns, and programs that only Christians understand. To a new believer. this can look like a foreign culture. Ask yourself how you can set aside Christian jargon and communicate in easy-to-understand terms and language.

        

Years ago at my church, our youth group created an entry point for new believers called “The Breakfast Club.” We provided a delicious breakfast on Saturday mornings and talked about Jesus. We had gathered their questions when we started and then answered them in the context of a book, Jesus: No Equal, designed specifically for this purpose. (You can download free as many of these books as you need at barrystclair.com.)

 

Develop an Inclusive Environment

Train your students to reach out to nonbelievers and new believers. Students tend to be cliquish, so your youth group will need to be intentional about opening up and helping new believers feel welcome. When newcomers arrive, they need someone to talk to them. Just as you want your students to build relationships with non-Christians, help them to know how to initiate relationships with new Christians.

 

An environment of reaching out to new Christians actually begins much earlier—when they were not yet Christians. Ideally, your students have been praying for their non-believing friends in a prayer triplet and at least one person has shared Christ with them. Ask those with a connection to any new believer to bring that person into a Christian environment—to youth meetings and/or church. Look for ways to include them in every way you can. The bottom line: surround newcomers with loving Jesus followers.

 

Encourage Your Students to Invite Their New Christian Friends Into the Youth Ministry and the Church

If you train them to know what to do, they will quickly grow comfortable with it. Ask them to make sure new believers have a ride to youth activities. Encourage them to invite their friends several days in advance, call them the night before to remind them, spend time with them when they come, introduce them to others—as a friend, not as a new believer—and include them in whatever social activities your students do after meetings.

        

It’s also important to ask new believers about their experience at church. What did they get out of it? What can they put into it? You’ll get some insights into what they need in a church as well as convey the message that church life is important.

        

At first your students need to take the initiative to provide a way to get their new Christian friend to student gatherings. But over time, your students can let their new Christian friends take the initiative to get to youth meetings and church services on their own. And as they do, encourage them to bring friends or family members who need to know Jesus.

 

Help New Believers Get Into a Discipleship Group

Small groups deepen relationships, provide accountability, and create a natural environment for encouragement and growth. A discipleship group involves students in a deeper level of engagement with Jesus, in a deeper concern for friends who need Jesus, and in due time leading their own discipleship groups—becoming “disciples who make disciples.”

        

When a student has progressed from being uninformed about God and His Word to making a decision to follow Jesus, growing in faith, engaged in a disciple-making group, and being incorporated into the family of God, you can step back and, with great pleasure, know that God has done a miracle and is producing fruit that will remain. What higher calling or great joy could you possibly have?

 

Mobilize Your Adult Leadership Team

Let’s say 50 students come to Christ. Who is going to follow up with them and disciple them? By arranging and engaging your adult leaders to gather a small group of these new believers, not only will you multiply your time by the number of trained leaders mobilized, but you will also have these students involved in their first discipleship group.

 

Your Next Steps

We encourage keeping a notebook or journal of ideas, action steps, and resources that will help you advance your youth ministry. You can use the following questions and suggestions for brainstorming and developing your goals and plans.

 

• Reread the five strategies above and decide on several practical steps for making your youth group more new-believer friendly. Share these steps with adult and student leaders in your church and ask them to work with you to create a welcoming, nurturing environment.

 

Resources

• Go to barrystclair.com to download free:

– Jesus: No Equal

– An Awesome Way to Pray-Student’s Guide

– An Awesome Way to Pray-Leader’s Guide

– Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Online. One session in this 8-session strategy for youth leaders is “Build Leaders.” In it, you will discover how to begin and lead your Leadership Team.