A wonderful thing will happen to you when you have a new believer in your life: It will spiritually revive you. It is like going to Disneyland with adults versus going with children.
Adults at Disneyland tend to complain, starting with the price of admission, which is extraordinarily high. Once in the park, adults usually want to eat. Then of course they are sleepy, so they are wondering if, among Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and all the other lands, there is such a thing as Napland.
Adults tend to be critical, quick to point out the lack of realism in the rides, or how it was “so much better when Walt was still alive.” They will also complain about how long they have to wait in line for a ride (especially when they see the sign that says, “If you are standing here, you will be on the ride in … one month”).
In contrast, try going to Disneyland with kids. It is, as the song says, “a whole new world.” Kids are so excited to see the characters, experience the thrill of the rides, and visit the various lands so adeptly designed by Disney Imagineers. For children, Disneyland really is a magical place. The favorite time for kids at Disneyland is going in; the favorite time for adults is going out.
Now, think of going to church with those who have been Christians and churchgoers for many years, even decades. You can find yourself taking things for granted, complaining and even become somewhat jaded.
The music is too loud. The music is not loud enough. The church is too small. The church is too big. The pastor’s sermons are too long. The pastor’s sermons are too short. You don’t like it when the pastor adds a call for people to come to Christ at the end of the service because you have “heard all that before” and besides, you want to go to lunch!
The list of complaints continues.
I have a solution for you: Take a nonbeliever or a newly minted believer to church with you next Sunday. I guarantee you will hear and see things far differently when you bring a visitor. If they are not yet a Christian, you will find yourself praying fervently for the pastor’s message and hope he extends that invitation for people to come to Christ. And if that person you brought does believe in Jesus, now you have the privilege and joy of helping them get on their feet and reach spiritual maturity.
Like taking a child to Disneyland, when you have a new believer in tow, you see and hear things in a new way—through their eyes, so to speak. Watch them process the Word of God for the first time and discover the joy of worship. It can revitalize you!
And those amazing conversations after church as they ask you countless questions about what passages from Scripture mean. You realize, for starters, that you know a lot more than you think you did. All that time listening to Bible studies and studying on your own has paid huge dividends. And for those questions you do not have the answer to, you can go to the pastor or a more mature Christian for their insight—and, of course, you can search the Scriptures on your own.
No doubt about it, new believers are the lifeblood of the church. They also are the lifeblood of the Christian. We all need a new believer in our life.
The preceding was adapted from Tell Someone: You Can Share the Good News by Greg Laurie, Copyright B&H Publishing Group 2016. Laurie is senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship® in Riverside and Irvine, California.
