INVEST YOUR TIME WISELY

 

One of the greatest gifts you can give a new believer friend is your time. Students who have entered into a new relationship with Jesus most often have plenty of questions. Most of them know their lives will be very different now. They need someone to walk with them in their new life.

 

You value your time, and so does your new Christian friend. As a new believer, he or she needs to be nurtured and rooted in the basic truths of following Jesus. As a student, the time and opportunities for doing that are limited. So you will need to maximize the time you spend with those who have recently prayed to receive Christ—for their sake and yours.

 

Your follow-up conversations between and during your weekly sessions provide a great time to answer questions and teach them the basics of what the Christian life looks like. Leading them through the sessions of Getting Started (see Resources below) will help you do that.

 

Consider these practical suggestions to increase the value of your time investment, both with new believers and in a Discipleship Group:

 

Stay On Topic

Off-topic conversations can lead to some interesting interactions, and there is a place for that. But it’s generally better to have a plan and then deviate from it only if necessary. Defer off-topic conversations until after the group time.

 

Make Notes

Keep a record of each appointment with notes on their answers given to questions of both on-topic and off-topic conversations, and jot down their comments/insights into how they are experiencing their new life in Christ. Then, from those notes, decide what you need to bring up the next time you meet.

 

Call and/or Text Often

During the first week after a new believer has prayed to receive Christ, text or call several times. Ask if you can help or answer any questions generally or questions from Getting Started.

 

Be Available

Let your new believer friend know you’re available to talk if they need to call with any question or want to get together. Make sure they have your number.

 

Answer Questions

When a new believer asks a question, answer it specifically. Don’t pretend to know answers you don’t actually know; help find the answers together. Giving Away Your Faith is a good resource for answers to the seven most-asked questions by new Christians. You can download this book for free (see Resources below).

 

Pray Diligently

Ask God to give your new Christian friend a growing hunger and thirst to follow Jesus and to get to know Him better every day.

 

Be Patient

Growth takes time. Let new Christians grow at God’s rate, not yours. New believers progress in different ways. Some have an initial growth spurt and then seem to stagnate. Some start slowly but then “get it” and take off from that point forward. Sometimes new Christians seem to not grow very quickly but are blossoming in ways that aren’t very evident on the surface. There is no template for the rate of spiritual growth. All you can do is invest in that person and then let the Lord produce fruitfulness in His timing. Realize that you may be just one of several people He has put in their path to help them grow. Whatever their response, continue to be a friend!

 

Sometimes this is the way it works: Once I ran into a guy four years after I had led him to Christ. I had assumed he had lost interest in growing spiritually. To my surprise, he had met some people in college who invested their time in him, and together they shared the love of Christ with non-Christians through music and personal testimonies. “I will never forget that day when you led me to Christ,” he said. “It changed my whole life.”

 

Let that encourage you to keep at it. You don’t know how your investment of time will pay off, but God has promised to honor your faithfulness. Keep communicating and connecting, be patient and available. Whether you see the evidence right away, later, or never, keep praying for God to work powerfully in their lives. He will. He wants to do that even more than you want Him to!

 

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.

 

• Give your time freely, knowing that investing your time in relating to nonbelievers or in following up new believers is never a waste of time.

 

• Download and become familiar with Getting Started and the Hard Questions: Answering Questions Non-Christians Ask in Giving Away Your Faith.

 

Resources

• Go to barrystclair.com to download free:

– Getting Started

– Giving Away Your Faith

– Building Leaders, books 1-3