Author Steven Lake
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| The Bible And New Believers Wednesday, October 8th, 2014 3:10pm Keywords: (None) |
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| One of the things I've seen a lot of recently with people who are out witnessing and getting people saved is the habit of many to "pump and dump" new believers. For those of you who don't understand my meaning, allow me to explain as the terminology is partially drawn from the retail world. To "pump" a new believer is to share the gospel with them and bring them to salvation in Christ. To then "dump" them is to immediately afterwards walk away and never interact with them again. This is quite often done by saying, "Now tell someone else about your salvation, grab a bible, find a church, and grow!" completely ignoring the fact that this new believer has absolutely no clue what you're talking about. This is because the art of discipleship has been mostly lost on the modern day Christian. Some of that is laziness on the part of the believer, and some of it is a product of our society where we, or anyone really who's ever been in sales or business in general, typically "pumps and dumps" customers by the truck full. IE, they bring them in, sell them a product, and then move on to the next poor sap they can get their hands on. We can't do that with new believers. We need to take them from the cross to the classroom or else what purpose is there in getting them saved if we're going to leave them to flounder and drown in today's world? Plus, if we abandon them right away, what will their opinion be of Christ? Won't they think that He'll abandon them as well? It's why we need to stick with them from salvation until they can walk on their own. A great example of proper witnessing and discipleship comes from a gentleman named Vic, one of the elders at our church. He worked for I believe 20 years on a guy named Richie, trying as hard as he (Vic) could to get him (Richie) to accept Christ. Finally, after all the persistent work Richie got saved. But was that the end of it? Was Vic's work done? Absolutely not! I'm not sure of exactly how it all played out but I believe Vic gave Richie a bible, invited him to church and bible study, and also setup discipleship meetings for the next six months with not just him, but I believe at least one or two others. And forgive me if I don't have all the facts rock solid as I'm doing this from memory, but I believe they met at least once or twice a week where Vic would sit down with them over lunch and teach them out of the bible, disciple them, and help them grow. That has become a lost skill and practice in the modern day church. When we witness to others, if they accept Christ we need to begin by getting to know them. After all, they're a brand new brother or sister in Christ, so why shouldn't we? We can't just ignore them once our work of witnessing is done. We have a responsibility to them, and especially to God, to disciple them to make them good and proper followers of Christ. So what are you waiting for? Have you recently led someone to Christ? Are you doing that right now? Have you any plan on discipleship afterwards? If you can't do it, do you have someone lined up who can take over for you? What will you do about getting them a bible? Being that they're new, and given all the choices out there, it's best if you get them their first bible so you know they've got the right translation given all the bad ones out there. Do you have their name? Their address? Maybe a phone number? How much do you know about them? Remember, those you witness to, should they accept Christ, will become your new brother or sister in Christ. And if they're already saved then they're family. So don't leave them out in the cold! Be obedient and disciple them! Matthew 28:19 (KJV) - "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" |
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