Yesterday I was asking about where to begin with teaching someone who is new to the Christian life. I got a good variety of feedback, both here, on Facebook, and by email. My current writing project has the working title Starting (or Restarting) with Jesus, so I’m spending a lot of time thinking about these things.
Even though I’m writing a book, I’m not in favor of just handing a book to a new Christian and expecting that to teach them what they need to know. In fact, the book I’m working on is designed to be used by an older Christian working side-by-side with a new Christian. I want to encourage conversations on certain topics, rather than attempting to funnel information to a new convert.
That said, here are some of the suggestions I received from yesterday’s post:
- One preacher mentioned that he sits down and shares an apple with a new Christian. As they eat, he talks about Commitment as the seeds, with Church being the core, Character being the pulp of the apple, and Creation the skin.
- Another reader mentioned beginning with the story of Jesus, reading a gospel. They mentioned Luke; I usually suggest Mark as a starting place, followed by John. But I definitely agree with the focus on the gospels.
- In a comment here, Robert emphasized the need to reshape the worldview of the new follower, plugging them into the church and helping them find their place to serve. He also said to focus on Jesus and our Christian walk, leaving worship controversies out of the discussion.
Good thoughts. More ideas?
I would love to see Luke/Acts reframed in a book for this purpose. Not sequentially, but a back-and-forth between the two volumes so the new believer can see the early church living out the call and teaching of Jesus in Luke’s gospel.
It’s important to make sure they understand their conversion is through Christ, and commitment is to Christ. We can unintentionally lose sight of that by going straight to “this is how you do church.” Instead, it should be “this is how we live as the church, the called out by God.” We are now in a special relationship! I agree with the Luke/Acts approach, show what it means to reflect Christ in the various circumstances we will find ourselves in, how we are now have a higher standard in how we treat others, and how all of this flows from the two great commands. The role of the church is important, not because we need to get “the five acts” right, but because we are now a family or community working together to support and edify each other to the glory of Christ.
Creation is the skin? Huh?
Excellent! The church need more ideas like these.
@Charles: The original comment included a chart. I may see if I can get permission to repost it. But ‘CREATION’ was tied to the liberation of creation; looks to be a call to evangelism as well as the promise of the undoing of the curse. Passages listed were
Matthew 6:10
Matthew 28:16-20
Romans 8:18-25
2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Colossians 1:15-23; 3:12-14
Recently, I’ve been focusing on the Sermon on the Mount as a guide to what it means to follow Jesus in a broken world. The more I read it, the more relevant it is to today’s world. It also shows that following Jesus is relational and that our relationships with each other mirror our relationship with Jesus. It’s also one of the more challenging things I teach: every time I revisit it, I’m even more aware of how lacking I am in the character of a good disciple, and how much I need God’s grace to become the person he wants me to be.