“I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night-time of your fear; I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.”
From the song, “The Servant Song” by Richard Gillard
As do the heavenly hosts above, Christians too should rejoice when a person accepts God’s gift of salvation and makes the commitment to be a follower of Christ (Luke 15:10, King James Version). Among many reasons, we rejoice because that person has been adopted into God’s family and now has the exciting privilege of undergoing the process of becoming more and more like our Lord and Savior. While gaining this new life is exciting, the path of the Christian journey can be a challenging one (as you well know), with some feeling discouraged by or uncertain of what is needed for Christian living. Because of the challenges that they face, some may even stray from the faith. Thus, it would be imperative for those of us who have already begun the race not to neglect our new sisters and brothers who are just starting out. Instead, we should make it our priority to help and support them as they traverse the Christian path.
Help Foster a Sense of Belonging within the Church Community
The sense of “belonging” is characterized by feeling accepted as a member of a community or group (Hall, 2014). It can increase motivation, help protect against negative outcomes such as depression, mitigate the effects of stress, enable people to see that they’re others like them facing difficulties similar to what they may be facing, and help people feel supported and better able to cope with life (Hall, 2014; Pogosyan, 2017; Wickham, 2019). I can imagine that if a person doesn’t feel as if she or he is accepted in a particular community or group, that person may decide to leave said community or group. With this in mind, we should make every effort to help foster a sense of belonging within our church community for new believers.
The Apostle Paul understood the importance of fostering a sense of belonging, which is why, in his letter to the church in Rome, he urged his readers to accept and welcome each other as Jesus accepted and welcomed them (Romans 15:7). For him, that would mean accepting each other regardless of our ethnicity, nationality, gender, and socioeconomic status, for example, because we are all equal in Christ (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). He even went as far as publicly calling out the Apostle Peter for demonstrating discriminatory behavior towards non-Jewish Christians because they weren’t circumcised as had been the Jewish Christians in their midst (Galatians 2:11-14).
We should adopt the same mentality, as well as use other strategies to help foster a sense of belonging within our church communities. For example, we should call out and work towards eradicating cliquish tendencies and discriminatory behavior. Knowing that we are united by Jesus’ blood, regardless of demographic differences, we should go out of our way to greet and interact with new believers with genuine affection, as well as value, respect, and appreciate them. Realizing that our connection to our new sisters and brothers don’t end when the church service is over, we could follow-up with them during the week if we have their contact information just to let them know that we’re thinking about them or praying for them. We could even provide them with our contact information so that they can call or email if they need someone to pray for them or if they have questions about being a Christian, for example. When responding to their questions, however, it’s important that we’re not dismissive, condescending, or defensive. Instead, we should respond to their questions with patience, meekness, honesty, and humility. We could also encourage them to participate in prayer or Bible study groups or even host and invite them to a fellowship luncheon or dinner. There are so many ways to help foster a sense of belonging within our church communities. Ask the Lord to show you how you can do so within your church community.
Help Them Understand that Challenges are to be Expected
In response to Peter’s declaration of how much he and the rest of the disciples had given up to follow Him, Jesus promised them that all who follow Him would not only be rewarded for their sacrifices but would also face trials and persecutions (Mark 10:28-30). Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He made sure to warn His disciples of the difficulties they were going to face for following Him because He didn’t want them to become off guard by these difficulties and then fall away (John 16:1). It is then no surprise why Peter took the time in his letter to the new testament believers to tell them not to be surprised by the fiery trials they were facing and to encourage them to persevere (I Peter 4:12-14, 16).
For new believers in our midst, they may be well aware of the spiritual blessings (at least some of them) God promises to those who follow Him but may have the assumption that their new life in Christ will exempt them from hardship. Being caught off guard by the difficulties they’re facing, they may conclude that God doesn’t love them and thus become discouraged. Subsequently, it would be beneficial to help them understand that trials are indeed part of the Christian experience that our loving God, among various reasons, allows: (1) to teach us valuable lessons; (2) so that we turn to and learn to depend more on Him; (3) to build our faith, character, and spiritual maturity; and (4) so that we can learn more about Him and His power through how He helps us during those trials. It would also be beneficial to encourage them to read and study God’s word because of the comfort and guidance that it provides during challenging times while also sharing encouraging scripture verses with them (e.g., Matthew 5:10-12, II Corinthians 4:8-10, 17; Romans 5:3-4, 8:35-39; I Peter 4:12-19; and James 1:12). In addition, it would be beneficial to emphasize the importance of an active prayer life during all seasons of life.
In All Things Shew Thyself to be a Pattern of Good Works
While it is important that we share God’s word with new believers, it is equally important that they see us living God’s word as well. Failing to imitate Christ while telling them that they ought to will most likely cause them to view us as being hypocritical, which is a factor that people often cite as the reason why they leave their church community. They may even develop resentment towards us because we’re expecting them to do something that we’re not even (or trying to do) doing ourselves. By striving to be consistent in what we say and do, we demonstrate to new believers our genuine and steadfast commitment to the faith, which may inspire their commitment to the faith as well.
It is therefore important that we follow the Apostle Paul’s directive to Titus, which was for him to show himself to be a “pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7-8). We can do this by how we treat new believers and others in our congregation (e.g., not slandering others, grumbling or gossiping about others; forgiving others; and showing patience), how we respond to trials in our lives, demonstrating self-control, walking with integrity and humility, and doing things to glorify God and not to bring glory to ourselves or to impress others, for example.
By the way, if we do happen to act in a manner that is unbecoming as a Christian, we should always seize the opportunity to model what true repentance looks like (II Chronicles 7:14).
Encourage them to be Patient with Themselves
As we know, becoming more like Christ is a lifelong process and sometimes, along the way, we will miss the mark. As the Apostle Paul described in his letter to the church in Rome, within us lie a constant struggle between the sinful desires of our old nature and the desire to do that which is pleasing to the Lord (Romans 7:15-23). Moreover, he said it best when he wrote, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19).
For some new believers, they may become discouraged by this struggle and may even come to believe that God will withdraw His love from them if they fail to resist sin every single time they are tempted. We should therefore help them understand that this struggle is common to all Christians, but that God has given us His Holy Spirit who produces within us the fruit of righteousness. While emphasizing the importance of daily seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit because He empowers us to resist sinful temptations, we should discourage them from relying on their own strength to resist sin as this won’t lead to successful outcomes. We should also help them understand that God doesn’t stop loving us when we stumble but will allow us to face the consequences of our faulty decisions because He loves us. We can share scripture verses with them that declares that God disciplines those whom He loves as any good parent would and that this discipline is meant to lead us to repentance and to “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Proverbs 3:11-13; Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelations 3:19). Lastly, while encouraging them not to wallow in guilt but to repent and keep pressing forward, we should encourage them to be patient with themselves knowing that God who has begun a good work in them will continue to work in them and will finish His work until they meet Him face to face (Philippians 1:6).
Conclusion
Our concern for the spiritual welfare of a person shouldn’t end once she or he becomes a Christian. Beyond the moment people accept Christ as their Savior, they will continue to need spiritual guidance and support as they begin their Christian journey. Because we’ve already entered the race, we can play a vital role in guiding and supporting them on their journey. I pray that we will never neglect such an important mission.
Additional References
Hall, K. (2014). Create a Sense of Belonging: Finding Ways to Belong can Help Ease the Pain of Loneliness. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pieces-mind/201403/create-sense-belonging
Pogosyan, M. (2017). On Belonging: What is Behind our Psychological Need to Belong? Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-cultures/201704/belonging
Wickham, J. (2019). Is Having a Sense of Belonging Important? Retrieved from: https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/is-having-a-sense-of-belonging-important
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