Coaching New Recruits

Bruce had hit rock bottom. His days of drinking, carousing, and stirring up trouble with his family had caught up with him, and now here he was, walking alone, slowly navigating the seven miles to his home. He had just cruelly offended his adult daughter, and her response was simple: she pulled her car over and directed him to leave her car. Now he was walking, thinking, and feeling sorry for himself.

While on his way home, Bruce found a Bible on the side of the road. Though it was worn and dirty, he picked it up, seeing it as a gentle reminder to call out to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I hear you. Something needs to change. I need to change. God, lead me to a church on Sunday and I will go there.”

That following Sunday, Bruce found our church. He was clearly uncomfortable when he walked in, but he seemed encouraged by the warmth and friendliness of our church. Later that evening, Bruce came back, and Bruce and I had a long conversation. After a few more meetings, Bruce committed his life to Jesus Christ. He was soon baptized, and he began his journey to be free of the alcohol that had taken over his life.

Bruce grew in the Word and began serving Jesus in ministry. Eventually he became a trusted and respected deacon in the church.

Today, I look back at Bruce’s radical life change with warmth, mostly because I saw how God worked in such an amazing way. Yet through Bruce’s journey, my church and I learned a lot about how to engage, disciple, and connect a believer into ministry. So how is this accomplished?

There’s a process to disciple and build a team. Here are a few principles to remember:

Relationships matter. Let me begin by stating the obvious: relationships matter for people to come to and grow in Jesus Christ. Bruce came to Christ because God used some loving, willing servants in the church who wanted to connect with him. God used our relationships that were formed with Bruce to open the door to his heart need. He came to Christ because God used the Bride of Christ. In other words, relationships matter.

This applies to our everyday lives in our local communities. For example, my wife, Teresa, and I just moved to a new neighborhood. We are trying to be intentional to get to know and serve our neighbors.

God placed this opportunity before me soon after we moved in. After a big snowfall, I saw my elderly next-door neighbor trying to shovel his driveway. He was recovering from a hip injury, so here he was, with a shovel in one hand and a walker in the other. I couldn’t run over there fast enough! As I finished the shoveling, our conversation turned to Jesus.

Opportunities to connect and serve, even some as obvious as this one, opens the door for gospel centered conversations.

Discipleship matters. A few years ago, I had a desire to plant a tomato garden. I grew up in the suburbs, and it quickly became apparent that I had no idea what I was doing. After getting some advice from a friend, I started with a few small tomato plants. I planted, watered, and waited. Waited some more. And more. Eventually, from one vine came a small flower or two, and from the flowers, tomatoes. I was so proud, and we canned a whole lot of salsa and tomato sauce that year!

Discipleship is like growing a garden: it needs to be planned, purposeful, and continual. For many churches, a natural fit for this process is the groups ministry. Like a garden, growing a group to become a catalyst for ministry takes a steady investment of time and effort.

Invest strategically. Of course, there’s only so much time in a week, so a wise leader needs to find which areas where he needs to invest. If most people come to a church through the worship experience, it is a natural flow to bring them into the groups ministry. One strategic move, then, is to invest time and effort into Sunday School or small groups or whatever the church calls its discipleship ministry. Groups can be a catalyst that can grow believers into ministry and help expand the Kingdom.

Bruce began to attend a Sunday School class and enjoyed studying the Word. However, it was clear that he needed to grow deeper in an even smaller group where he could interact more. What did we do? We got him involved in an additional, smaller group of men who would pray, read, and encourage one another. This micro group, called “Men on Bended Knee,” helped Bruce grow in Christ as the three in that group met each week. Following the example of Jesus with his smallest group—Peter, James, and John—this investment of believers across various maturity levels in a very small setting resulted in growth in Christ for all. The movement through the groups takes a person through three areas, often at the same time: Growth (micro groups), Gifts (ministry), and the Gospel (missions). (See the chart for further explanation.)

A two-point recruiting plan

So, where do leaders go from here? We know that discipleship is the start, but then how does a leader build a team of gospel focused leaders?

First, it’s important to recruit with the individual in mind. This may be basic, but it is helpful to look at a person’s gifts first, then suggest a ministry that would align with their gift and passion. This is only done when a leader gets to know each person, spend time with them, and pray with them about where they might be able to serve that best aligns with their gifts and passions.

This was what we did with Bruce. He loved his neighborhood, and he was in his element when he walked his grandchild to the bus stop each day. After he became a Christian, Bruce would often pray with the parents and the children at the bus stop. In his rough neighborhood, Bruce’s prayers were a welcome cup of cold water.

Knowing what Bruce did for those families each day, one of my leaders approached him to serve with a new opportunity. Our church had a food distribution for the community once a month, and Bruce’s love for his neighborhood was a perfect fit. As the people were being served, they would go to Bruce to share their prayer requests. He became a prayer warrior, praying passionately with each person. This led to new opportunities for Bruce to serve, and eventually, he became a deacon who faithfully served the church well.

Second, recruiting is not enough. There also needs to be a plan to make room for more leaders. An effective strategy for making room is to help the current leaders see the importance of mentoring and training a new leader to expand the ministry. In fact, it makes sense that every leader has a succession plan to pass on the ministry to a new person.

A few years ago, I had a Sunday School teacher who was getting up in years. He was burdened to find and train an assistant teacher for his class. He carefully chose a leader within the class who was faithful and teachable. Each week he spent time with that new assistant to discuss the lesson and the ways that he taught. Soon, he had the assistant teacher lead the class once a month. As the assistant gained confidence, the teacher then began to alternate the teaching every other week. Months later, the teacher became ill and was unable to teach for several weeks, but the assistant was able to lead the class during his absence. Eventually, the assistant became the teacher, and the old teacher happily enjoyed being a student in the class, satisfied that the ministry was in good hands.

Was the teaching style of the new leader the same as the old teacher? Of course not. However, a new leader needs to know that it doesn’t have to be “perfect.” There is a freedom to make mistakes and grow from them. A mentoring process takes this learning opportunity into account during the transition. All in all, the process of handing off to new leaders is adaptable to many contexts, whether starting new classes, leading new ministries, or even for planting churches.

With a gradual end of COVID on the horizon, we have opportunities like never before. Bruce’s story can be repeated and radical, amazing transformations can be seen every day. As a leader patiently works with those whom God has placed in his church family, the Kingdom will be expanded and the Lord will receive his glory.