Wanted: New Believers

I love new believers. They are the lifeblood of the church. When I have the privilege of speaking to other pastors, I tell them that if they don’t have a constant flow of new believers coming into their congregations, they will become spiritually dead. We can either evangelize or fossilize. Show me a church in which new believers are not coming in, and I’ll show you a church that is stagnating. Show me a church that has new believers coming in on a regular basis, and I’ll show you a church that has vibrancy and life.

Granted, new believers need older believers to stabilize them. New believers’ hearts are full of zeal, but they don’t understand the ground rules yet. They need older believers to teach them. Still, older believers also need new believers. They need their zeal. They need their passion. They need their excitement to remind them of what they have forgotten.

Sadly, it is usually the new believers who want to do the most when they know the least. When we ask people to help out with something at Harvest Christian Fellowship, so often we have new believers who come and say they want to help: “I will do whatever you need. I would like to sign up for six ministries.” While we are very appreciative of their willingness to serve, we want them to have a good foundation first so they can be properly trained and equipped to do what God has called them to do.

On the other hand, there are older believers who have known the Lord for years, maybe even decades, who don’t give a passing thought to helping out at church. It should be just the opposite.