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What We Win Them To
How many people in your church have said yes to Jesus more than once?
Pastor John Lee grew up in a church that held altar calls. Its passion for evangelism was real, and he can still name people who came to faith through those invitations. He also walked the aisle at least five times himself, sincere every time.
In a recent 9Marks article, Lee borrows a line from Mark Dever: “What you win them with is what you win them to.” The way we invite people shapes the faith they carry forward.
Lee sees three places where invitations lose clarity: 1) The first is urgency. A countdown-style appeal pushes for a decision in a single moment, and people who respond may later assume they already tried faith and it didn’t work. Lee urges leaders to press on the conscience and give people time and room to respond. 2) The second is cost. Some invitations soften the call to make it easier to accept, yet Jesus told his followers that saying yes to him means saying no to the old life. 3) The third is follow-through. When decisions become the measure of success, discipleship becomes an afterthought.
Lee calls churches to consider conversion as the starting line. A church grows in health when the people who say yes keep growing in faith, in relationships, and in love for others.
Is your church ready for the people who say yes?
Read your invitation out loud. Review the words you use when you call people to follow Jesus. Do they name the cost along with the gift? Do they tell a new believer what happens next?
Measure what follows. Six months after someone’s decision or baptism, are they in a group, a mentoring relationship, or a place to serve?
Give every new believer a companion. Lee says what he needed was someone to walk with him. Before your next baptism or membership class, ask a mature believer to meet with each new person for the first few months.
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Ministry Intel
New research from Barna and Christ In Youth finds that the teens most engaged in their faith feel more friction than their peers. Among these “Faith-Activated” teens, 44% feel tension between their faith and what friends or culture expect, compared to 27% of all teens. Barna reads the tension as a sign they are paying attention. When a student brings you a hard question, ask a follow-up before you offer an answer.
Pastor Marco Garcia Calls for a ‘Discipleship Culture’ | The Christian Post
At the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference’s 25th Anniversary Summit, Garcia told leaders that good preaching and worship are not enough to make disciples. His church, The Way World Outreach, moves members through a series of classes that ends with training to lead small groups. Ask your team: does our discipleship pathway end with people discipling someone else?
Growth Toolkit
Grants of up to $60,000 fund a pastor's renewal leave. A planned break can prevent a forced one; the next cycle opens in November. Free to apply.
A congregational survey measuring how your people are doing in relationships, faith, health, and more, plus 15 dimensions of church thriving. Free.
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