I followed Christ at age 13 after having heard the gospel from a seventh-grade classmate for more than a year. I did not own a Bible, and the day I got saved was the first time I had ever been inside a church building. I knew about Christianity and church only what I needed to know: God loved me, and I needed salvation.
That day, God made me His child as I prayed with my pastor at the end of the worship service. To my surprise, a lady in the congregation—a lady I had never met—immediately greeted me and invited me to Sunday school the next week. That next Sunday, I was there.
In fact, I was at church almost every time the doors were open. Sunday morning Sunday school, followed by the morning service. Sunday night discipleship training, then the Sunday night service. Wednesday night Bible study and prayer meeting. Thursday night outreach (we called it “visitation”). Other special events throughout the year.
I never missed going to church unless my family had a prior commitment or I was sick.
Every activity was an opportunity for me to learn something as a new believer, and I devoured whatever I could get. Looking back, it’s amazing how much l learned in my first years as a believer.
Here was the problem, though: I learned content by sitting through sermons and classes, but I didn’t learn how to put all the content together well. More specifically, I had little idea how to absorb the content, apply it to my young life, and consequently walk more faithfully with Jesus.
I was getting content but still living inconsistently—a baby in Christ whose head was filling with information, but whose feet weren’t moving quickly enough toward obedience.
I was getting the puzzle pieces, but I didn’t know how to put the puzzle together.
What I needed then—and what I strongly encourage churches to provide young believers today—was a mentor, an older brother in Christ to walk beside me until I steadied my feet and stood firmly in my faith. I needed someone to help put me on the right track, redirect me when I began to wander, and pick me up when I fell.
To be fair, I did have Sunday school teachers and pastoral staff members who loved me and faithfully taught me. I will forever be grateful to them for their witness and work. With none of them, though, did I grow close enough that they could peer into my soul and identify my internal rebellion. With none did I feel comfortable expressing my questions, fears, or doubts as I began to dig more deeply into my faith. None of us used the term “accountability” back then, so I also had no one to ask me hard questions as a teenage guy trying to live as a Christian in a non-Christian home.
In many ways, I was a faithful, energetic church member invested with the crowd while I was also a loner trying to figure out my way in the middle of the crowd. I was, I suspect, like many church members today.
I needed a mentor, but back then, I didn’t even know I could ask someone to pour some of his life into me. What I really needed was a brother to reach out to me like that sister who had initiated a conversation to invite me to Sunday school years before.
That’s why I’m writing this post today: to encourage our Church Answers readers who are growing, mature Christ-followers to begin building a mentoring relationship with another believer. Somebody in your congregation—perhaps a younger believer, or even an older believer who’s never really been discipled—is longing for some guidance.
Somebody’s just waiting for another believer to help him put together all the puzzle pieces of his Christianity. You just might be that person.
Posted on April 16, 2026
Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.
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