How to Have the Next Step Conversation

In the classic political TV series The West Wing, after a long day of drama dealing with world leaders and even petty problems, President Bartlett often quips to his team, "What's next?" That phrase has become a hallmark of Bartlett's relentless, focused personality, ready to accomplish whatever is next on the agenda. His team is always at the ready with the next debate, memo, or briefing in hand.

In the same way, many of our students are internally asking the question, "What's next for my faith?" They are hearing the Bible taught, growing in community, or even just asking questions about Jesus, and are ready to take the next step, but do not know what to do or where to go. It is in that moment that we must be like Bartlett's team, ready with an answer in mind and something in hand to help them know what's next and give them the courage to take that step.

One of the ways we can prepare for these next-step conversations is to develop a discipleship pathway, a clear overview of what discipleship looks like at your church. Done well, this will help you determine where a student is in their walk with Jesus and show a next step to help them move from one stage to the next. It brings clarity for your team and your students, so that they are not guessing how to go deeper in their walk with Christ. In the rest of this blog, I'll share our ministry's discipleship pathway, followed by a few quick suggestions for starting one of your own.

SEEKER: A TEENAGER WHO DOESN'T FOLLOW JESUS YET

One of the best parts of student ministry is being around lost teenagers. Some are curious, and some are callous. Both, in our ministry, are seekers. They don't follow Jesus... yet. But our earnest prayer is that they will, and we help them take the next steps of their own, even before faith in Christ. Their first step is to seek God and get answers to their questions. If they are not ready to follow Jesus, we ask, "What is holding you back?" Then we encourage them to keep seeking God by coming to church, reading the Bible, and asking God to show Himself to them. We get them a study bible before they leave and follow up as the weeks go on. The most important next step is for them to repent of sin and believe the Gospel, at which point they are saved and move on to the next stage of discipleship.

SAVED: A TEENAGER WHO IS LEARNING TO WORSHIP AUTHENTICALLY

By "saved," we mean a student who has confessed Christ, but is still in the early stages of discipleship. Our immediate next step for them is baptism, which we do as soon as possible to help them establish their new identity with Christ. We then equip them with a study Bible and begin teaching them the basics of the faith, such as prayer, bible study, and new life in Christ. One resource that we always put in a student's hands is from YM360 called New: First Steps for New Christ Followers. By worship authentically, we mean to orient our students to sound doctrine and sound Christian living from the start so they can grow in the right direction going forward. Their participation in their small group is vital for this, since that is where most of the personal discipleship will happen.

STUDENT: A TEENAGER WHO IS LEARNING TO GROW INTENTIONALLY

Once a student is established and is learning the basics of the faith, we encourage students to go beyond the basics by growing intentionally. In the previous step, most new believers are just trying to get their bearings. In this step, they have their bearings, and they are ready to set sail, so we just need to give them resources and environments to do that. We help them develop key relationships in the church, whether with their small group leader or other mentors in the church. We also use YM360's Next: Growing a Faith that Lasts to spark a student's curiosity about where to go forward. Many of our students have joined men's Bible studies or our church's Bible institute as a result of wanting to go deeper in their faith.

SERVANT: A TEENAGER WHO IS LEARNING TO SERVE SELFLESSLY

When a student wants to take the next step, and they have already been growing intentionally, I ask, "Where are you serving?" We are never more like Jesus when we serve. Discipling towards service helps us avoid developing Christian students who know a lot of information but aren't making an impact. We have several next steps here that are adjustable based on age and situation that we use in conjunction with YM360's book Now: Impacting Your World for Christ (Right Now). We can help them discover their spiritual gift. They can come join the ministry at our church's next serve day or join a regular serve team, such as preschool or tech ministry. For our high school students, they can join our Servant Leadership Team for our youth group. For our Juniors and Seniors, they can go on our overseas mission trip to put into practice all they have learned over the years. I have found many times that a student who is stuck in their faith just needs an outlet of service, and then they thrive!

SUGGESTIONS FOR CREATING A DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY

First, align your pathway with your church's vision and values. Our church’s core values are worship authentically, grow intentionally, and serve selflessly. We want to build the same kind of disciples that the rest of our church is making. Second, have practical steps for each stage of your pathway, such as a journal, a ministry to join, or a resource to share. Third, use this with a spiritual self-assessment. We have students fill out an assessment, which helps us determine where they are on the pathway and make personal suggestions for what step they can take next. Fourth, remember that these stages are not mutually exclusive. A student can serve right away after becoming a Christian. This is not a rigid test, but a tool to help us know what key elements of the Christian faith students need to grow through. Lastly, train your leaders to have these next-step conversations, too. One of my favorite things is having a leader come up to me to share that one of their students is ready for baptism because they have been talking about it after small group.

One last thing to consider: Everybody has a discipleship pathway. Some are implicit, some are disorganized. Some are explicit and organized. My encouragement is that it is easier for both you and your students if you know where you want your students to go and how to take that next step to get there. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it should be intentional and thoughtful. So now we'll know exactly what to say when a student comes up and says, "What's next?"

Share your thoughts with others in our YM360 community:

• Right now, what is your plan for helping a new believer follow Jesus?
• Right now, are your volunteers equipped to have next-step conversations?

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