“How Young Converts are to be Treated by the Church”
“Feed my Lambs”
By
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
SCRIPTURE: - John 21:15-17 “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep”.
BACKGROUND - We must understand here that Jesus is talking to Peter, the disciple that denied him thrice. Jesus is questioning Peter about his love for Jesus. No doubt that this questioning of Peter was done in the presence of the other disciples so they would understand even after Peter publicly professed that he loved Jesus so much that he would die for him, yet denied him three times before the crucifixion, and Jesus wanted to remind Peter of what he had done as well as show the other disciples how forgiving God is and how they (as we) must be forgiving of others. Not only did Jesus ask Peter did he love him three times He also gave Peter three commands on how to express his love for Jesus. It is safe to say that Jesus was letting Peter know in no uncertain terms, that actions speak louder than words. Peter don’t just tell me that you love me, but show me by your actions and “Feed my Lambs” “Feed my Sheep” and “Feed my Sheep”. We understand that by the terms “Feed my Lambs” “Feed my Sheep” “Feed my Sheep” that Jesus was undoubtedly talking about members of the church, the body of Christ.
We understand that when He said “Feed my Lambs” that He was in fact talking about the young converts and babes in Christ, those that have recently been converted and are in fact on the milk of the Word of God.
When He said “Feed my Sheep” these are those that are more spiritually matured and spiritually seasoned. These have progressed from the sincere milk to the meat of the Word of God. These are more able to stand the wiles of the adversary yet must be fed.
Well today those words are still true if we love the Lord Jesus we must “Feed the Lambs” and the “Sheep”. This lesson will deal with the feeding of the “Lambs”, which are the young converts.
OPENING – We pray so many times Lord grow this church, send people in, give us increase in our membership. However, we don’t know how to properly treat them once they get here. So many times we have people come and do well for a little while and then all of the sudden they are not around anymore. Sadly we are so quick to say that “IF they had a mind to be saved then they would still be here”. However, if we knew how to treat them once they got here they would probably still be here. We must first understand that if they come to the church and are say 25 years old then for 25 years they have been taught the worldly system and their eyes have been blinded by the god of this world. 2nd Corinthians 4:4 says “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. Therefore, all they know and all they have is a carnal mind and the Bible says in Romans 8:5-7 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”. Therefore it is not necessarily that they don’t have a mind to be or stay saved, but they only know the carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God and they only know how to operate in the flesh because that’s what they have been doing all this time, and as well they are spiritually blinded from seeing the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and this way of Holiness.
So many times in the onset a young convert is mistreated by the church or rather the church folk because of the forcing of false dogmas and ridiculous traditions on them causing them to believe that these are the truths of God and in fact are causing the young convert not to grow in grace, but dwindle away and decay. Oftentimes we place on the young converts false dogmas and rudiments of men telling them they must denounce this or that all at once when perhaps we did not understand certain aspects of church for years after we were first converted, oftentimes we place more on them then we are willing to bare ourselves.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” The word “TRAIN” comes form or rather has several words in the Greek from which it draws its meaning.
1. EKTIEPHO – to rear up to maturity, to bring up, nourish.
2. PAIDEUO – to educate, instruct, and teach.
This is the responsibility of the church. It is what Jesus was telling Peter in front of the other Disciples when He said “Feed my Lambs”.
The church ought to be able to teach her children when she receives them; she should dedicate itself to be as busy in training them how to act, what to expect, and how to live just as mothers are dedicated in teaching their little children such things as they will need to know and do in life.
WATCH THIS:- In the natural if a parent would knowingly let their child be in harms way and neglected and if that child would get hurt or killed we would blame that parent and say that the blood of that child is going to be on that parents head and they need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We will even say they need to go to prison and the guards’ just need to turn their backs and let what ever happens happen because of what they have done to that child. Well then how guilty is the church in knowingly neglecting her young converts.
Instead of bringing up young converts to be working and contagious Christians, so many times we generally act as if we don’t know how to employ them, or what use to make of them. Sadly we act like a mother, who has a great family of daughters, and knows nothing about how to train them to work, and so suffers them to grow up idle and untaught, useless and despised, and to be the easy prey of every perverted villain that only desires to use, mistreat and abuses them. Oftentimes sadly we totally neglect, and regard them with suspicion and jealousy; nobody goes near them to strengthen, encourage, counsel, or LOVE them. Nothing is done to lead them to usefulness, to teach them what to do, or how to do it, to welcome them in as a member of the family or to open to them a field of labor, they are left alone and lonely, feeling unconfused and unloved, hurt and often rejected, misunderstood and out of place. And then - when we find that the young converts cannot stand anything, growing cold and moving backward under our mistreatment, we often just turn around and abuse them by talking about them, saying if they only had the mind to stay saved all because they did not hold out.
So the question is How should we treat young converts? The command is “Feed my Lambs”!
1. WELCOMED: - Young converts should NOT be kept behind the rest of the church. Oftentimes the older set in their way church folk will keep the young converts back behind the rest of the church, and prevent them from taking any active part in the church or the church service, or any active duty in the service. They are kept in the background and unfortunately taught to file in behind the old, stiff, dry, cold, suspicious, jealous, and cliquish members, for fear that if they are allowed to do any thing in church. We feel it will make them proud and threaten my position. Whereas, the very way to make young converts humble and keep them so, is to put them to their work and keep them there. That is the way to keep God with them, and as long as God is with them, He will take care of their humility and they will understand their position and work in that position. However, if young converts are left to fall in behind the old church folk, where they can never do any thing, they will never know what spirit they are of, and this is the very way to run them into danger and the waiting arms the perverted-sinful villain that only wants to use and abuse them.
2. WATCHED: - Young converts should be placed under watch-care. They should be watched over, by the church, and warned of their dangers, just as a loving mother watches over her young children. Young converts do not know at all the dangers surrounding them. They don’t understand the devices of the devil, the temptations of the world, the power of their own passions and habits, and the all the forms of danger, they don’t know; and if NOT PROPERLY WATCHED and warned, they will run right into danger. Understand that loving parent watching their little child does not let it put its little hand on the stove, play with the liquids under the sink, stick anything in the electrical socket or allow it to wander where it will fall into danger, because its own blindness and ignorance does not prevent it from desiring to do so? We church and church folk should watch over and care for our young children, just as loving parents watch their little children. The church should WATCH OVER ALL the interests of her young converts, know where they are, and what are their habits, temptations, dangers, privileges, sincerity of their heart, and their spirit of prayer unless they are drawn away and lost in a cesspool of iniquity. A loving mother, when she sees paleness in her child’s face ask "What is the matter with you? You don’t look well. Are you sick? She is concerned with the welfare of that child. O, how different it is with the children of the church, the lambs that Jesus has committed to the care of His church. Unfortunately so many times instead of restraining young converts, watching over them and taking care of them, the church lets them go any where, and look out for themselves. Then they become sick and die and we should be spiritually arrested for spiritual child neglect.
3. Young converts should be taught the duty of SELF-DENIAL. There is but very little self-denial in the church, and the reason is, that the duty is so much lost sight of, in giving instruction to young converts. God exercised self-denial in giving his Son to die for us, Jesus Christ exercised self-denial by dying on the cross to save sinners and in sparing us, and in bearing with our perverseness. The Holy Ghost exercises self-denial, in condescending to strive with such unholy beings to bring them to God. The angels exercise self-denial, in watching over this world. The Bible teaches that self-denial is a leading feature and a Duty We Must Perform in the gospels. Matthew 16:24 says “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. Mark 8:34 says “And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. Luke 9:23 says “And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”. We must remember they have a carnal mind and the carnal mind minds the things of the flesh; therefore, they must be taught how to deny themselves and crucify flesh.
4. They must be taught SANCTIFICATION. They need to understand that sanctification is not something that precedes obedience but is a progressive quality that consists in obeying God more and more perfectly.
5. They must be taught PERSEVERANCE. Perseverance is not just holding on but CONTINUED obedience to God.
6. Young Lambs should be taught to be HOLY. Holy is not a denomination but a lifestyle. A lifestyle of holiness is commanded in scripture (Leviticus 11:44 Hebrews 12:14; Titus 2:11-12; I Peter 1:15-19, 2:21-23). They must be taught that God and the church wholeheartedly disapprove of our people indulging in any activities which are not conducive to good Christianity and godly living. Godly living should characterize the life of every child of the Lord, and we should live according to the pattern and example given in the Word of God. Holiness & Holy is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture, Phl 2:5 says “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”. This same mind is the habit of agreeing with God’s judgment - hating what He hates - loving what He loves - and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.
7. Young Lambs should be taught to strive for PERFECTION. Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God”. Spiritual Perfection does not mean that we have it all together neither does it means that we may never make a mistake. It is learning how to take the Word of God apply it to our lives to the point that we are steadfast unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. We all have issues and will be working on these issues until Jesus comes. However; the word "perfect" as used in the Bible means "mature" and comes from the Greek word "Teleios" (tel’-i-os ). A good example of this can be found in comparing the KJV with the NLT version of 1 Cor 2:6. KJV: - Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: NLT:- Yet when I am among mature Christians, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world, and not the kind that appeals to the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing.
8. Young Converts should be taught to EXHIBIT THEIR LIGHT. If the young convert does not exhibit his light, and hold it up to the world, it will go out. If he does not stir himself, and go forth and try to enlighten those around him, his light will go out, and his own soul will soon be in darkness. Sometimes young converts seem content to be still and not do any thing in public till they get a great deal of light. But this is not the way. Let the young lamb use what they have let them hold up their little light boldly and honestly, and then God will pour in the oil and make them like a blazing torch. Let them know what God expects. Matthew 5:15 says “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house” Mark 4:21 says “And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick” Luke 11:33 says “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light”.
9. Young Lambs should be handled with TENDERNESS. The heart of a young convert is tender, and easily grieved, and sometimes a single unkind look will set him into such a state of mind of discouragement causing them grow worse and worse. Parents know how important it is when you correct your children, that they should see that you do it from the best of motives, for their benefit, because you want them to be good in society and unharmed, and not because you are angry. Otherwise they will soon come to regard you as a tyrant, rather than a friend. Colossians 3:21 says “Fathers, provoke not your children [to anger], lest they be discouraged”. We don’t want to make them angry against God and church. Kindness and tenderness, even in reproof, will win their confidence, and draw them to you, with an influence of brotherly instructions and counsel, so that you can mould them into finished Christians. Many people under the so-called pretence of being faithful, as they call it, often hurt young converts in such a severe and overbearing manner, as to drive them away. Young converts have but little experience, and are easily thrown down. They are just like a little child when it first begins to walk. You see it tottering along, and it stumbles at the slightest little thing. You will pick up every thing from the floor, when the little one is going to try to walk, push all the furniture out of the way and even make sure the pillows from the couch and bed are all around. Just so with young converts. We the church ought to take up every stumbling block, and treat them in such a way as to make them see that if they are corrected, that Christ is in it, and then they will receive it as it is meant, and it will do them good. KINDLY point out things that are faulty in the young convert which they do not see. They are but a child, and knows little if anything about church and Christendom. Whatever there is that is wrong in spirit, or unlovely in character, or uncultivated in manner that will impede their usefulness or impair their influence as a Christian, ought to be kindly pointed out and corrected. To do this in the right way, however, requires great wisdom, the Bible says in James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him”. NOTE:- If you don’t attend Bible class and Sunday school you’re not being taught the Word of God; therefore, you don’t even have any business trying to correct someone in the first place. They are better off and the church is better off if you leave them alone. NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!!! speak of the faults of young converts, behind their backs. Church folk do this a lot, and by and by the young convert hears of it; destroying their confidence in the so-called seasoned and mature Christian, which cause discouragement, hurt and grieves their hearts driving them away from the church. Jesus gives warning to those that cause this in Matthew 18:6 “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea”.
10. Young converts are to be taught HOW TO WIN SOULS. Young converts should be taught particularly what to do for this, and how to do it, and then taught to live for this end as the great leading object of life. So many times young lambs get into the church and then they are left to go along in their business just as they did before. They do nothing and are taught to do nothing for Christ. Unfortunately the only change is that they go more regularly to church, and are so-called fed from the pulpit. But they do not grow strong, because they cannot digest it, because they do not exercise. They become spiritually constipated which leads to becoming spiritually impacted which can cause death. Now the purpose for which Christians are converted and left in this world, is to bring other sinners out of the fire. If they do not affect this or understand their purpose, they had better be dead. The young converts should be taught this as soon as they are born into the kingdom. The first thing they do should be to go to work witnessing. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19:20 says “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen”. This is what they are saved for – not to just go to heaven. Young converts should be trained to labour, just as carefully as young recruits in an army are trained for war. Suppose the army would send a company of men into battle untrained. The enemy would laugh at such an army because they were useless and ineffective they would be ultimately captured, imprisoned, or killed because they were ineffective, they knew nothing of what to do or how to do it. Such an army would resemble the church that does not train her young converts.
SUMMARY: - Sadly oftentimes in being obedient to the Word of God when He said “Feed my Lambs” we instead show opposition to and suspicion about young convert and the movements they make in church. Sadly we will talk against them and push them in the background of the church leaving them to fend for themselves struggling to hang on or eventually walking right out the door. We fail to welcome them with love and kindness as well as training them to become what God has for them to be. The Bible instructs us to “Feed my Lambs” and to “Feed my Sheep”. This is not just the obligation of Pastor and Ministers of the church, but each and every child of God.
The Bible says in Titus 2:1-15 “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;” WHY – BECAUSE “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, [and] to please [them] well in all [things]; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee”.
We must understand and take heed that if the treatment and instruction of young converts is greatly defective or not done at all, they will press no further than they are strongly propelled by the emotions of their first conversion experience. As soon as that is gone or a trial comes they will come to a standstill and become stagnant, then they will decline spiritually, backslide, and walk right back out the door or just as sadly you will find that they will go forward only when aroused by some powerful excitement. These are known as periodical Christians, who are so prone to wake up in a time of revival or some other event that will bring notability, and carry on as if they had the zeal of an angel, only for a few days, and then die away as dead and cold as an Arctic winter unable to produce fruit and fulfill the Great Commission.
It is extremely important that young converts should be taught that their walk with God will not depend on impulses and excitements, but that they will press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. They must be taught go steadily onward in the Christian journey, advancing from strength to strength, joy to joy, and glory to glory.
We has so-called seasoned Christians and the Church must grab with a firm grip the young convert in the beginning of their Christian journey teaching them how to be Holy and effective in this spiritual warfare. The casualty rate among the young converts is extremely high and ultimately disturbing all because so little is being done in spiritual boot camp the first stage of their walk with and for God. The casualty rate would be greatly reduced if we would be expedient and faithful in insuring that effective instruction was given and proper treatment manifested in the onset of their Christian journey. However, this has not been the case and the blood of these victims will be required at the hands of the church – you, you, you, and me.
CHALLENGE: Each One Teach One and watch the Kingdom of God grow.
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Southern Ohio
1st Assistant Pastor
O.G.C.
