Q. Our pastor faithfully preaches the Gospel, and many are saved under his ministry. However, I am deeply concerned because some of the new believers soon lose the joy of their salvation, become cold in the faith, and even drop out of the church. What can I do, or what can our church do, to help solve this problem?

A. This is a problem that grieves pastors, Christians who are genuinely concerned for others, and biblical counselors who work with those who have slipped and failed in their Christian lives.

In counseling, we see many instances of believers who have come into the faith with problems that had controlled them when they were in the world, and then they have failed in their Christian walk because these old problems were not solved after salvation.

In some instances God takes away at least a part of a new believer's personal problems (including bad habits) and interpersonal relationship problems at the time of salvation.

However, in His infinite wisdom and love, God often allows new believers to overcome their problems through the use of biblical principles, prayer, and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, too many new believers (and many who have been saved for many years) think that praying about problems is the only thing that is to be done to solve them. They have not been taught that God has given written instructions for handling problems and that these biblical principles are to be used together with prayer.

Even though a new believer attends every worship service, listens to every Sunday school lesson, and attends every midweek service for several years, he still may not hear the specific biblical principles that he needs to solve the problems that he has when he first becomes a believer, or that he will encounter in those first few years. One reason for this is that the pastor has much that he needs to teach the flock as a whole.

I believe that local churches can help new believers to succeed in the Christian life by offering each new believer the choice of either discipleship training or biblical counseling.

If the new believer chooses discipleship training, then he should be taught basic doctrines (as discipleship training programs commonly do) that will solidify his faith.

It is crucial that teaching in the discipleship training program leads each new convert to a realization of the holiness of God, the seriousness of sin, the price that Jesus paid for sin when he died on the cross, and each believer's accountability to God (2 Cor. 5:10).

In addition, the discipleship training program should equip each new believer to discern the errors of the cults by contrast to the truth of the Scriptures.

But, the discipleship training program must also include the teaching of biblical principles for handling personal problems and problems with others.

Errors of psychology have penetrated so greatly into Christianity that grievous errors of psychology often are accepted and taught as biblical truth. So care must be taken to assure that the principles that are taught for handling problems are really biblical and not errors of psychology (even if these errors have been "anointed" with scripture).

The discipleship training program should be set up and directed by a Christian who is spiritual (Gal. 6:1) and who is not a novice (1 Tim. 3:6). Also this person should be: 1) trained in theology, 2) trained in the biblical languages, 3) trained and experienced in biblical counseling, 4) perceptive to the errors of psychology, and 5) thoroughly dedicated to belief in the sufficiency of the Scriptures for living the Christian life and for supplying counseling principles.

These are (or should be) the basic requirements for your counseling pastor. So, for a church having more than one pastor, the counseling pastor is (or should be) the ideal person to lead the discipleship training program.

Many new believers are so undisciplined in their lives that having someone to encourage them to follow through in developing good habit patterns is one of the most essential ministries that the church can provide for them.

So, it is important that the discipleship training program provide an individual who will come along side the new believer and encourage him in developing good habits of Bible study, prayer and worship. And it is important that the new believer be made accountable to this encourager.

This encouragement person can be your counseling pastor, a discipleship training worker, or some other Christian who is mature in the faith. Having a number of workers in the discipleship training group to help in this area can multiply the effectiveness of both biblical counseling and discipleship training far beyond what your counseling pastor can do by himself.

If the new believer chooses to have biblical counseling, then, after the counseling pastor has helped him solve his problems, the counseling pastor should turn him over to a worker in the discipleship training program for instruction in basic doctrines of the faith, for instruction into biblical principles for use in solving problems of the future, for encouragement in developing good habit patterns, and for personal accountability.

The development of good habit patterns is essential for building the Christian life. In addition, it is a principle of Christian living that one way of putting off bad habits is to replace them with good habits (Col. 3). So, the discipleship training program, and a personal worker to help each new believer, can be a tremendous help.

Further, the discipleship training worker will, most likely, be the first to know if the new believer starts to slip in his Christian walk; so the church can reach out and help the new believer before he falls by the wayside.

You can help personally by being trained and serving as a discipleship training worker. Or, if your church does not have a discipleship training program, you can discuss the need for one with your senior pastor and/or with your counseling pastor. And you can volunteer to help in the program.

Be an example. The Apostle Paul said, "Watch me and do as I do" (Phil. 3:17, paraphrased). Model the Christian life. Show new believers the reality of Christ in your life. Model a greater love and enthusiasm for the things of God than for the things of the world.

Be an encourager. The biblical meaning of encourage is to "make firm." It means to make people determined to follow through and to do what they should, whether they "feel like it" or not.

Be a friend to new Christians. Show them hospitality. Their old friends can be a hindrance to their Christian walk. They need new friends. Christians need to provide the friendship and the fellowship that will build up new believers.

Be sensitive to the needs of the new Christians. Some will choose discipleship training rather than biblical counseling when they really need biblical counseling. Some may have had biblical counseling but need to go back to work on different problems.

As you are being a friend, attempt to discern when listening and sympathy are helpful, and when prolonged listening and sympathy are a stumbling block that deters the new Christian from getting the biblical counseling that he needs to solve his problems.

If your friend is not acting on your biblical advice, or if the problems are not getting solved, it is time to refer him to your counseling pastor or to a counseling center that provides biblical counseling.

In addition to all of the things discussed above, it is important to train and lead Christians in putting their faith into action.

The reason for this is that there is a scriptural relationship between "doing" and "growing." Colossians 1:10 teaches that good works (acting on biblical knowledge) result in two things: 1) bearing fruit, 2) and increasing in the experiential knowledge of God.

Also, God commands believers to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22). Disobedience to this command to be "doers" results in growing cold in the faith.

So, the church should provide 1) "how to" instruction in vital ministries, 2) specific opportunities for experience, and 3) on-the-job training.

Jesus ordained His disciples (Mark 3:14) that they might be with Him (to learn), and that He might send them out (to do).

Is it possible to have a discipleship training program that is really biblical without including "how-to" instruction, specific opportunities for experience, and on-the-job training in personal evangelism?

In summary, sound preaching, good teaching in the Sunday school, and prayer support for each new believer are all good, but more should be done.

As an individual, model the reality of Christianity in your life, pray for new believers, be an encourager, and provide both friendship and fellowship.

As a church: 1) provide biblical counseling, 2) teach new believers biblical principles for solving problems that they may face in the future, 3) provide an individual to personally help and encourage each one in developing new habit patterns, 4) make each new Christian accountable to that individual, and 5) provide "how-to" instruction, on- the-job training, and experience opportunities in vital ministries, such as personal evangelism.

Return to Q&A Counseling Articles Index

Return to Home Page