I. What Is “follow-up”? Follow-up has been defined as “the conservation, maturation, and multiplication of the fruit of evangelism.” Winning people to Christ and building them up in Christ are inseparably linked together in the Scriptures. There is no continuing New Testament evangelism without follow-up.
The Apostle Paul sets for the goal of all follow-up: “For those whom He foreknew, of whom He was aware and loved beforehand, He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the image of His Son (and share inwardly His likeness), that He might become the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29 Amplified Bible). Again he writes: “His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), (that they should do) the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), (that it might develop) until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full knowledge of the Son of God, that (we might arrive) at really mature manhood—the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection—the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, and the completeness found in Him” (Eph. 4:12-13 Amplified Bible).
God calls every Christian to be both and obstetrician and pediatrician. Follow-up is “spiritual pediatrics.” Newborn babies do not grow automatically. They must have love, food, care and training. Follow-up is the parental care given to new converts to bring them to spiritual maturity and fruitfulness. Remember that neglected children usually get sick, and they often die. Or, if they live, many of them become delinquent. The same thing happens spiritually.
Paul considered himself a spiritual parent to those he won to faith in Christ. To the Corinthians he said, “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech, be ye followers of me” (1 Cor. 4:15-16). To the Galatians he said, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). To the Thessalonians he said, “Ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, Who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:11-12).
II. Why should we follow-up? Babes in Christ have four basic needs, and these needs show the four-fold responsibility of every spiritual person.
1. The need for love. Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that ye should love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12). Spiritual parents are to love their spiritual children as Christ loved them. This love is the basic necessity for successful parenthood, and it is usually missing when follow-up fails. Christ-like love must be the foundation of all attempts to give parental care to spiritual babies. Parenthood without love produces unbalanced, distorted lives. And since knowledge must precede love, time should be spent with the new Christian to get to know him and love him. This love will grow as Christ is shared week to week.
2. The need for nourishment. The babe in Christ needs to be fed regularly with the right kind of food. Jesus commanded Peter three times, “Feed My lambs . . . feed My sheep . . . feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). We must have the right formula for infant feeding. The Bible says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
3. The need for protection. The new convert is in open season for all the attacks and ravages of Satan, and can easily be crippled spiritually for life. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Also, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14-15). Satan is far more dangerous as a mock angel than as a roaring lion, and his first aim is to separate the new Christian from the Word of God. He tries to starve him into weakness, thus keeping him from availing himself of God’s promises.
4. The need for training. The spiritual parent must train the new convert to build his life with eternal materials on the one foundation of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul set forth two tests of successful training:
a. Walking in Christ (when the pressure is on). He said, “For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain” (1 Thess. 3:5). If they were not living in victory, Paul felt his work among them had been in vain.
b. Witnessing for Christ (sharing their faith). He said, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the Word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain” (Phil. 2:15-16). Unless they were witnessing by life and lip to those in darkness, Paul felt his work among them had been in vain.
III. How should we follow-up? All follow-up should be done on a personal level, and the New Testament sets forth four methods of doing it.
1. By personal contact. This was the chief method of our Lord, and of the Apostle Paul. We read of Jesus that “He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:14). The “with him” principle was dominant in Paul’s ministry. In fact, his prime reason for living was follow-up. He said, “I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Phil. 1:23-24). Just as Jesus fed the multitudes, there is need for follow-up classes, but no class will ever substitute for the personal contact needed in building disciples to evangelize the world.
2. By personal prayer. Both Jesus and Paul spent much time in personal prayer for new believers. If we are interceding we will follow-up.
3. By personal representatives. When Paul was unable to visit the churches, he sent other men in his place. He spent much time with them to train them, then sent them. He wrote to the Philippians, “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go shortly” (Phil. 2:19-24).
4. By personal correspondence. Much of the New Testament consists of personal letters to Christians to encourage, teach, and guide them in their new faith. Many churches today are sending follow-up letters and Bible Studies to their new converts. This work demands a price in money, time, prayer, and discipline, but the results are eternal.
This article is an excerpt from Dr. Neece’s booklet “How to Care for New Converts,” pp 1-3, and available from Reformation Publishers.
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