FOLLOW UP AND DISCIPLE MAKING
INTRODUCTION: The whole process of discipleship and disciple
making begin with vision. We have to see, first of all what discipleship is. It
is the kind of life God expects of us as Christians.
We are called to be followers of Jesus Christ i.e.
disciples also we are mandated to “go and make disciples”, which
is the multiplication of disciples. However, we must have the vision after
which we can enter into it in obedience to Christ’s command “go make
disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19).
Making disciples begins with the
task of evangelism. As one person put it, the objective in the first step in
the disciple making process is evangelism, and then the second is follow up. It
is one thing to engage the enemy in combat and another thing is to set the
necessary time with a new convert to see that he grows and matures into the
likeness of Jesus Christ.
In the household of God there are three categories
of people just as it appears in the physical world. (1John 2:12 -14). It takes a baby properly cared for to
become a strong man, and it take a strong man with experience and proper
training to become a responsible father or parent (compare Titus 2:1-14).
DEFINITION
OF FOLLOW-UP
1. It is the Spiritual work of grounding the new
believer in the faith. Col. 1:28-29; Acts. 14:21-22.
2. It is the assuming of a parent-child relationship
with a new believer. 1Tes. 2:7-12.
WHAT
FOLLOW-UP IS NOT
I. It is
not giving a new believer a pep talk on Bible reading.
Ii It is
not just loading him down with tracts and pamphlets for instructions.
iii. It is
not just getting new believer to hear the Sunday sermon or join a Sunday
school
class.
iv. It is
more than repeatable attempts to enlist him in the activities of the Church.
All of the following efforts are of value,
nevertheless, they neither meet the deepest needs of the new believer nor
ensure up to the scripture standard; because all follow-up in the New Testament
is to ground the new believer.
WHEN
DO WE START FOLLOW-UP?
A good soul winner should begin the follow-up of the
prospect immediately after the conversion. That is individual spiritual care is
necessary after the birth.
WHY
I. Infants need immediate care.
ii. New Christian are immature.
iii. New
Christian needs to be spiritually fed, protected and trained.
iv.
Every New Christian needs a spiritual parent. 1Cor. 4:15 .
v. God entrusts the care of New Believers to
their Spiritual parents.
vi. The growth
of New Christian depends on whether or not we take our responsibility as
Spiritual parents seriously
vii. Immediate
Spiritual caring is necessary because Satan attacks New Believers
immediately with doubt, temptations and
discouragement.
THE
EFFECTIVE FOLLOW-UP
1.
Helping the new believer
receive assurance of salvation and acceptance with God. (1 Jon. 2:12-13) Gal.3: 26-29)
ii. Helping
the new believer develop a constant devotional life.
iii. Helping
the new believer understand the basic of abundant Christian living (2Tim
basic
to depend upon the promises of God Himself. He can know how to take God
at his
word. (John 1:Matt. 24:35).
Iv. Helping the new believer to adjust his life
to apply the teachings of the Holy
Scriptures and understand the power available to every Christian as a
result of
being
filled with the Holy Spirit. (John 8:47; Ps.9: 11; Eph 5:18; 1John 4:4).
V. Helping
the new believer to fellowship with other Christians (making friends) and
be
integrated into the life of local church for his Spiritual growth. (Heb.
10:25).
VI. Helping the new believer to
learn how to share his faith with others (Mark 16:15 ;
Act.
1:8).
WHY FOLLOW- UP
Evangelism or soul- winning without proper follow-up
work is like giving birth to a child without proper care. It is needless to say
that the child may in effect die off. Follow-up is therefore very essential
because of the different stages a new believer is likely to experience in his
Christian life.
I.
THE HONEYMOON STAGE: During this period, he will be received into a
new family-God’s family
rejoicing. So he should be taught some principles of
Christianity and to keep his joy as an up-to-date experience. (Phil,
4:4-7).
ii. THE
FIGHT STAGE: After few periods, he is able to realize a sort of
struggly
Within himself. This time, he should be taught how to live a victorious
life over
the
flesh. (Gal. 5:16-17;Ron.8: 12-14). Let him know that Christian are involved
in
Spiritual battle against the devil (Eph. 6:10 -12).
iii.
THE DOUBTING STAGE: It is possible for a young Christian to doubt his
salvation (even, matured
believers sometimes), due to some kind of problem of
life. We need to encourage the young believer
under stand and admire himself in
the
infallible word of God that can help one to stand in faith (Compare Matt.
7:24-27).
Here
we make the young believer understand that having problems does not rule
us
out of God’s family, and being a child of God does not count us from
facing
trails and life’s problems. (Compare John 16:33; Matt. 8:23-26).
iv.
THE PANIC SEARCH-FOR-THE TRUTH-STAGE: Due to diver kinds of doctrines in the
church world, some young believers who are not well versed in the scriptures
will be forced into confusion, which may eventually cause them to be going from
one local church to another in search of the truth. So it is necessary that a
new Christian be brought up well in the right way to maturity Matt. 24:11;
Phil. 1:9-11.
v. THE SILENT STAGE: Some new Christians,
because at their early stage were not taught how to share their faith with
others, remain fruitless. Therefore, there is the need for a new believer, to
be taught how to be fruitful in soul winning. (Matt.28: 19-20). This can be
effective by making him work (Tim. 2:1-2; 1Tess. 1:6; 2Tim. 3:10 -11).
CONCLUSION: In the physical realm, God provides parent for each
baby. Giving birth to the child is just the beginning of carrying out the
parental responsibility.
A baby without proper attention and protection
against disease may become a sick child. The child must be natured to maturity
and completely equipped to do and be all that he should be as a citizen of his
community.
REASON
FOR FOLLOW-UP
I
They lack the knowledge of God’s word.
ii.
They are still ignorant of Spiritual truths.
iii.
They can be easily deceived.
iv.
Because of temptation and falling back to sin.
v.
Persecution may arise.
God test to promote but Devil tempt to destroy.
PROBLEMS IN FOLLOW-UP WORK
Taking care of new
converts can be time-consuming. We live in a busy world where our leisure time
is precious and the hours are limited, for some Christians it will be a real
sacrifice to spend an hour or two each week with new converts.
Whether leading a discipleship class, or talking one
new convert through a set of studies, the task can be very disappointing. Some
will be painfully slow in their grasp of Spiritual realities. Others will lack
the desire to grow and Spiritual maturity will not came easily. The
disappointments can be all the more frustrating to the worker if he is doing it
alone.
Perhaps the greatest problem is finding other
Christian who are willing to help with such work. The apostle Paul encountered
this problem. He wanted to send some one to his converts at Phillip to se how
they were, but could not find anyone except Timothy; I hope in the Lord Jesus
to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news
about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your
welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus
Christ”. (Phil. 2:19-20).
The follow-up ministry can also be every demanding
(although satisfying) because of the answers required to the many questions
some new converts have. Like the child in natural life, a Spiritual child’s
questions can be almost never-ending!
Then there is the problem of how we can get the
complete outsider, who has come to Christ, to find a love for and a wish to
come to church? He is unaccustomed to our form of church worship. The order
rituals and the atmosphere will all be strange and perplexing to him. This is particularly
a problem among young people who may have come to Christ in a bright informal
mission or celebration service. Subsequent worship in the local church
will appear quite different; even dull.
TOTAL
FOLLOW-UP:
There are different ways and method in follow up
work, though with the same objectives.
DIAGRAM 1.
(A) GROUP FOLLOW-UP
TOTAL
FOLLOW-UP
(B) PERSON TO
PERSON
FOLLOW-UP
(C)
Personal Follow-up.
EXPLANATION:
a. GROUP FOLLOW-UP: Group follow up is that
nurturing of the new believer accomplished by the local church or fellowship
group. This kind of fellow up takes the form of structured instructions in the
basic of doctrines through the use of a new believers class, or similar
programme. It will enable the new believers to identify himself, with the Body
of Christ through the local assembly.
b. PERSON-TO-PERSON FOLLOW-UP:
Person-to-person follow-up is the act of a mature believer having personal
contact with the young believer for the purpose of helping him to grow.
Person-to-person evangelism and person-to-person follow-up are among the most
effective ways of communicating the truth and confirming the truth. The basic
Scriptural principle is found in 2 Tim. 2:2.
c. PERSONAL FOLLOW-UP: Personal follow-up is
when the new believer by himself is engaged in some Spiritual activities on his
own. This would include things such as reading books and having personal Bible
study; sometimes taking correspondence courses for his growth in the Spirit.
REASONS FOR
PERSON TO-PERSON FOLLOW-UP:
Though other methods of follow-up and necessary and
are needed for the growth of young believer, if person-to-person follow-up work
is neglected, they cannot be effective enough according to experience. The
person-to-person follow-up ministry is by far the most effective method yet
discovered. The reasons of this are not far fetched.
PROBLEMS
ENCOUNTERED BY NEW CONDERTS:
One of the existing things about helping those who
are young in the faith is the question they ask; just as natural children
sometimes have endless questions, so it is with Spiritual children.
Firstly, a lot of patience is requiring. You may
find the question being asked again and again, and although you answered it as
clearly as possible, there it comes again. It may be of course, that you may
just not communicating in a language that the person understands. Like the lady
who attends a lecture entitled philosophic and pragmatically evidences of a
Divine Creator, who had say after the lecture. I don’t care what he says but I
do believe there is a God!
Secondly, you will need a genuine love that is
unshockable and sensitive to the feelings of others. Some of the problems will
turn out to be very personal and complicated and will require hours of listening
(not all at once of course), and that will need true love-God’s love.
In the Third place you will need wisdom-the kind
that God gives. It is only by such wisdom that we can discern the real
motivations of the person speaking. Very often, the problem we hear first is
the presenting problem only, and there are other underlying causes that we have
to discern and define.
In the Fourth place you will need to be able to give
advice from the scriptures rather than your personal opinion. So many helpers
make the mistake of offering their own opinion, which can get quite confusing
if the converts happens to ask the same question of others who offer different
opinion. Always turn to the Bible when possible for the answer to the problem
of question.
Here are some of the commonest problems encountered
in follow-up work:
1. UNWILLING TO MEET YOU FOR FOLLOW-UP
This is
when you become aware that the new convert does not want to meet you for
follow-up.
2. UNABLE TO GAIN ASSURANCE OF SALAVATION.
3. FEELING GUILTY ABOUT PAST SINS.
4. AFRAID OF IDENTIFYING HIMSELF AS A CHRITIAN.
5. FACING STRONG FAMILY OR PEER PRESSURES.
6. PREVIOUS CORRECTIONS WITH AN UNHELPFUL CHURCH.
7. QUESTIONS ASKED BY NON-CHRISTIANS.
Question asked by non- Christians are remarkably
consistent and include the followings:
1. How do you know there is a God?
2. How do you know the Bible is true?
3. How can a God of love allow the innocent to
suffer?
4. Why did God allow sin to come into the world?
5. What do you mean by sin?
6. How do you know there is hell?
7. Were Adam and Eve real people?
8. Where did Cain get his wife from?
9. What will happens to those who have never heard
of Christ?
10. How does someone become a real Christian?
It is important that you discuss all these question in
your meetings with the new convert and help him to his own answers.-
GOALS
OF FOLLOW-UP:
1. The first
goal to the New Believer in follow-up is ASSURANCE.
2. The
second goal is CONSISTENCY that mean, he should fellowship with other saints.
Devotional life that mean how to submit to the Lord (Jesus). Developing and
learning the word of God.
3. STABILITY:
Teaching or study about how to be stable in the Lord.
Study: To read the Bible.
Constant: To come frequently.
Regular: To come always.
4. CHRIST
LIKENESS: Victorious Christians life. Holiness and bearing fruit of
the
Spirit.
All these will let one be as Christ.
5.
INDEPENCE: How to depend on the word of God only. Even where there is
nobody,
either the Pastor, Sunday
Bible School
be able to stand.
6.
REPRODUCTIONS: Giving birth to others in Christ and disciple them.
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Independable benefiting from Bringing others to Christ and disciple
the
Scripture.
them.
GOALS OF FOLLOW UP
10. FOLLOW – UP CONTENTS: This section deals
with tools that can be used. The main tools needed will be some simple helps in
bible study and verse memorization designed to meet particular needs in the life
of a new Christian.
Through Bible
study he will be able to get answers to his needs and questions. While in Bible
verse memorization he may be thoroughly equipped in his heart to overcome
temptation whenever it arises.
The contents of follow – up includes the many
topics you cover While going through
either person – to – person follow – up , group follow – up and personal follow
– up.
The follow – up contents fall into three phase as
this diagram shows.
DIAGRAM 4:
(1) DEVOTIONAL PHASE
(2) DOCTRINAL
PHASE
FOLLOW-UP CONTENTS
(3) DISCIPLESHIP
PHASE
EXPLANATION: DEVOTION
AREA
PHASE
ONE:
This area deals with different subjects or topics
from the scriptures, which deals with how a Christian can grow. (1pet.2; 2).
This will develop him in his Christian life to live for Christ. Here are some
of the topics to deal with.
DIAGRAM
5
Salvation 
Contents:
Devotional Assurance 
Area prayer
Memory
Verse
Obedience Guidance
Church attendance
Giving
e. t .c.
Evangelism.
PHASE TWO: DOCTRINAL AREA
This are deals with subjects related to Biblical doctrines . Here Knowledge is imparted in the believer to stablize him
in the faith and to help him maintain a consistent life . 2 Tim .3- 16 –17 .Here
the basic Bible doctrines are treated.
DIAGRAM 6;
Doctrinal
Area God
Salvation
Sanctification
Sin
Christ
Church
Satan
Last
thing. e.t.c.
Evangelism
Contents: Discipleship Follow-up
Counselling
Intercession Time
Management e.t.c.
PHASE THREE: DISCIPLESHIP AREA.
Being that the main object or goal of follow-up
ministry is making an individual member to know how to be effective in the
ministry of the church so he needs guidelines or training for outreach, aiming
at reproduction or multiplication.
Disciple simply means A Christian Who is growing in
conformity to Christ, Wining souls for Christ and training the new believers to
be like Christ. Phil .3; 7-10; 9:16 ;
Col.1:28 –29.
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