Today, we baptized 4 second generation believers and 1 first generation believer. A second generation believer is a believer that came to know Christ through the sharing of the gospel of salvation by the first generation believer. For example, someone came to know about Jesus Christ. After a little while this new believer also share the gospel of salvation to another person and that new person came to know about Christ, that new believer is a second generation believer.
What’s with the second generation believer?
There is nothing more exciting than when your disciple (a first generation believer) started to share the gospel of salvation to other people. There are a few things that we can see in it.
- The cycle described in Matthew 28: 19-20 “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” has been fulfilled. Evangelism, Edifying, Equipping, and Empowering should be a cycle and should not end in empowering. There has to be a continuity of the gospel.
- Principles described in T4T (Training for Trainers) is applied. When we evangelize our ultimate goal is not just sharing him the gospel of Christ, but also teaching them how to share what they have received.
- We are multiplying ourselves. The principle is simple, “entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). The more we multiply ourselves, the faster our church grows in numbers. Please note that I mentioned “in numbers” because quality growth still depends on your discipleship efforts and how you manage things inside the church. However, multiplying ourselves is one aspects of growth.
So how can we have a second generation of believers?
The answer is very simple, make disciples and give emphasis on evangelism and the necessity of sharing the gospel of Christ. Do not settle down with just sharing the gospel. Always make it to the point of discipling these new believers for them to share the gospel also.
Also remember, that one of the best ways of bringing someone to Christ is bringing someone where you have a relationship with; maybe a friend, a family member, or maybe a relative. The more you explore your list of friends, family and relatives, the more you see opportunities to share Christ to more people.
What are you doing in your church? Do you disciple others to share the gospel of Christ to their friends, family and relatives? If you are not yet doing this, today is the right time to start.
