Whose New Converts Are These?
By Sharon Byrd
The sermon is preached with enthusiasm and conviction. The congregation is challenged and convicted.
Visitors sit and wonder at all the goings-on. The preacher invites the lost to come and meet Christ for the first time, or to return to their First Love.
As people respond we, the church, are intended to meet with these individuals and their needs. To pray with these new believers and introduce and re-introduce the Christ we have grown so much to love.
As an expert in conversion (yeah, right!) – as someone who has been converted into God’s excellent kingdom by belief in the Gospel, confessing Jesus Christ as my Savior, and making Him Lord over my life – I believe I now have an understanding of conversion.
So what does the Bible say about welcoming new believers?
Deuteronomy 10: 19 says: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.”
What exactly is a foreigner? Dictionaries describe a foreigner as one who is from a foreign country or place; one who is from outside a particular group or community; an outsider.
The Bible describes foreigners as what we used to be before we came to know Christ.
Titus 2:3 says, “At one time we, too, were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
Ephesians 2:1 says, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air; the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
Before, we were separated (foreigners); now we belong to Christ because we believed.
It goes on in verse 4 of Titus 2 to say: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us; not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.”
So whose responsibility are these new converts to Christ? The answer is simple: Everyone’s.
God saved us because of His mercy, and then what happened? Other people. That’s what happened.
Someone led you in a simple prayer and the church body began to welcome you – whether it was through those who offered you a friendly hello when you got to church, or whether it was those who chose to come closer and help you find the will of God for yourself.
This is called discipleship. It doesn’t mean someone is raising you up to be a preacher; it means someone is raising you up to be a Christian – or, in laymen’s terms: a follower of Christ.
Here is an example of what we are to teach. Titus 3:1-2 says: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities; to be obedient; to be ready to do whatever is good; to slander no one; to be peaceable and considerate; and always to be gentle toward everyone.”
Everyone. Especially, folks, to the new believer who just wants a second chance at life.
It is our responsibility to help them get to know Christ. Not by forcing our relationship with Christ on the new convert, but by helping the new convert to know Jesus Christ for themselves.
“And Jesus Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers [He gave people to equip people for works of service], so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. [And here’s why] So we would no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:11-15).
Whose responsibility are these new believers? Yours and mine.
We cannot forget what God did for us and how He equipped others to be able to minister to – well, us.
We have been born again, and given a second chance at life. We can now encourage others. But we cannot do what God has yet to do in our own lives. So, check yourself.
Pray for wisdom and opportunity and let God use your lives just like the many others He used to guide you.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (I Peter 1:22, 23).
These new converts are yours. God has left us an example in the book of Acts:
“They [the new believers] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47).
Now you must answer for yourself: Whose new converts are these?