Nurturing Baby Believersنموونە

Day 2: We Confirm Their Commitment to Christ.

Unfortunately, a verbal prayer does not necessarily mean a true commitment. Sometimes people will pray the “sinner’s prayer” to get rid of a persistent witness. Consider a man who has just finished dinner and is planning to relax and watch a ball game on TV. Suddenly, the doorbell rings and two smiling strangers are standing on his front porch. Too polite to tell them what he really thinks, he listens to what they have to say—something about the Bible and Jesus Christ—and desperately tries to figure out their objective.

When they suggest that he pray to ask for forgiveness for his sins and invite Christ into his life, he thinks, Anything, just to get these people out of here. After he “prays,” the strangers shake his hand, give him some literature, and leave rejoicing, while the man rushes over to the TV set, hoping he hasn’t missed much of the game. Without follow-up designed to disciple this new “convert,” his counterfeit commitment may never be discovered.

At other times, people pray to accept Jesus Christ without clearly understanding what they are doing. Their prayer is simply a cry for help, recognizing problems in their lives that need to be resolved and hoping that what the Bible teaches will prove to be the answer. I have a friend who sincerely prayed at a businessmen’s outreach luncheon to give his life to Christ, but later admitted, “It can’t be true. It’s too easy.” We began meeting once a week in a discipling relationship and eventually he concluded that what he had heard was indeed the truth, even if it did seem “too easy.”

Some nonbelievers will pray a “sinner’s prayer” in faith—faith in the person they are talking to, not in the Person of Jesus Christ. A woman might think, Well, my life’s a mess and I’ve tried everything else. This lady seems sincere. It certainly won’t hurt to repeat what she’s asking me to say.

This woman is receptive to spiritual truth; she just doesn’t understand enough to make an eternal decision of mind, emotions, and will. In her case, the discipling process could begin even before she becomes a convert, as someone begins to show her how to read, study, and apply God’s Word to her life.

Of course, many people who respond to God understand what they are doing, at least to a degree. In any event, it’s essential that we follow up with those who respond to the gospel message, ensuring that they truly have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and become, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, “born again.”