Pre-Conversion Discipleship

Fulfilling the Great Commission

Week 1: What is the Great Commission and Who is responsible?

Week 2: Going in Evangelism and Missions

Week 3: Pre-conversion Discipleship

Week 4: Leading to Christ and Baptism

Week 5: Discipling a new believer

Week 6: Discipling towards maturity

I want us tonight to start off with a question. When do we typically think of discipleship beginning for someone?

What about those who are exploring Christianity? Even before one comes to faith in Jesus, discipleship elements can begin to take place. In fact, I think this is one of the steps of the discipleship process that we often miss. Often when we think about sharing our faith and bearing testimony to the gospel and who Jesus is, we think it's a one time thing. However, the reality is that most of our conversions in this room if I guess, are not the result of one particular moment, but lead up to our coming to faith.

So, I want us to take time tonight to consider the why and how of doing discipleship with those who have yet to come to faith.

The Why of Pre-Conversion Discipleship

Now, we cannot find anywhere in scripture that calls us clearly to this task. However, we do know we have been the given to go therefore and make disciples. We do know that we are called to go and be Christ’s witnesses from Acts 1:8. And even as we have seen from Jesus ministry on Sunday mornings in Mark’s gospel, Jesus often was teaching some of the same crowds.

But, I want to invite you to turn with me to Deuteronomy 6. Now, this at first is going to seem like a strange place to look at the call for pre-conversion discipleship. However, it is a call to pass onto children who are asking questions of the Israelite ways. It is a passage that calls to answer these questions and to teach along the way. Therefore, follow along with me as I read Deuteronomy 6:1-25 (READ).

The clear point and purpose of passing these things on is for the children in our care and midst. But, notice the ongoing nature of this process. It happens as we go, we continue to teach them about who God is and what it means to follow him. And I think most would say with their children, evangelism and teaching them the gospel was an ongoing pattern. However, why when it comes to evangelism and pre-conversion for those who are potentially interested, do we treat it differently?

I shared a few weeks ago the definition of evangelism from Mack Stiles. I want to share a few stories that Mack told some of us a few years ago about evangelism in the Middle East. Mack served for years in the United Arab Emirates. And as he and others from his team would go onto university campuses to do evangelism, they would often do this through Bible Studies. And most often, they would start with the Gospel of Mark.

They would gather with these university students to read through the Gospel of Mark. Many of these students were of Muslim background. And yet, as they studied the Gospel of Mark and read, many of them would have their eyes opened to who Jesus truly is, that he was more than a prophet to be revered. But again, this didn’t happen overnight. It took time. Many of these students would come to faith as they learned who Jesus is and would years down the road begin doing this same thing with others. But, had it not been the willingness to invest in these students, who knows what would have happened with just a one time conversation.

You see, those who have yet to the gospel aren’t always there because they just reject the gospel. Many of them have yet to even hear the gospel, and others because they have not yet rightly understood who Jesus is and their need for him. Those on the outside often have questions, hesitancy to coming to faith. And yet, if we are willing and will be patient to try and walk them through those questions, doubts, and concerns I believe many will come to the place of faith.

However, I think we often stand in the way of many coming to Christ. I think we are the stumbling block for many to come to the place of faith. For one, often within the church we have watered down Christianity with easy believism and miss the depth, beauty, and glory of what we have in Christ. In sharing the gospel we are often checking something off our to do list rather than sharing out of our love of Christ and love of neighbor.

This often shows as we don’t give them the time of day to invest in them, to allow them to ask us the hard questions and try to help them wrestle with those questions. Because instead of being patient and trying to help them walk through these doubts and concerns we get into shouting matches and trying to win arguments. The point of sharing the gospel and pre-conversion conversations is to gently persuade with the truths of the gospel. And that means us being willing to recognize that those we have these conversations with are going to have doubts and struggles. And the worst thing we can do is to try and argue with them to the point of believing.

Instead, we need to humbly hear their questions and aim to answer them when we can. And for all the questions we can’t, we point them to someone who can or we go ask another brother or sister to help us answer their question.

Let us love our neighbors by being patient with them and inviting them into these gospel conversations and being willing to be okay that they don’t get it right away.

This is why we need to consider pre-conversion discipleship. But how?

How of pre-conversion discipleship

Bible Studies, meals, invites to do other things.