'Follow up' evangelism

What is the point in ‘follow up' after someone has become a Christian? Sure, letting people know about Christianity is one thing, but why do Christian groups work hard to retain people, bringing them into the church? Doesn't this suggest their faith is thanks to our own efforts, and not God?

Often in Christian groups I hear people saying "once they've become a Christian that's great, but it's really important to follow up, or else they'll fall away and stop believing". This is a really hard concept to come to terms with, as it suggests that person's faith depends on us following up. That is, taking their details, calling them, inviting them to a youth group and so on. Shouldn't 'salvation' be a case of us presenting them with the Christian message and them making the choice to follow God with the help of the Holy Spirit, and not dependent on our efforts to 'convince' someone by chasing them and 'integrating' them into the church?

I have two thoughts to give here. The first is that where evangelism incorporating follow up is used 'successfully', Christians accept that it is by the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God who works within us. So God knew that the person would need encouragement and support in their faith, and thus sent a Christian along to follow up and give this support they needed.

Secondly, if this follow up weren't to occur, the idea is that God would send someone else down the track to do so in a different way, and so a person doesn't fail to know God just because one Christian failed to do what God wanted.

So if you were to have some outreach event, and 'Joe' accepted God and became a Christian, if another Christian then follows up and makes sure he's doing ok, and encourages him to come to church and so on, it is (generally) by the Holy Spirit's guidance. And if the person still ends up drifting away or turning away from Christianity, it's because Joe has decided other things matter more to him than God. A Christian 'intervening' at this point isn't going to change their ultimate belief in the end, only support or encourage them in their faith.

Also, if the same thing were to happen with Joe but no-one followed up and he drifted away, the idea is that later on, God will provide another opportunity, and another person, to meet that need in him.

The hardest thing for me in understanding this question is that it is so hypothetical. But I think I can say that 'follow up' is not strategic recruitment of followers, but a part of God's way of presenting His message to the world, and those who carry out the 'follow up' are simply doing God's will. Looking into this, I found that most of Paul's letters in the New Testament do just this – encouraging small communities of Christians after they had accepted the gospel (see for example 1 and 2 Thessalonians).

I'm not sure if this explains it fully, it's still something I'm thinking about and working through. But at least this looks into how ‘follow up’ is a part of God’s plan for encouraging people in their faith, and seeing how it is something God often calls us to do as part of presenting the message of Christianity rather than 'convincing' someone to be a Christian by integrating them or socialising them into the church. Ultimately it’s not about integrating anyone into a church or group, but about encouragement. And still, after this effort some will make the ultimate choice not to follow God, and that is their decision. The Christians who presented the message and 'followed up' gave them the opportunity and they chose not to accept it.

As with anything, 'follow up' can be misused, but that doesn't make it wrong as a concept. I'm sure we all know people who've been pestered incessantly, and that's not good. But as a concept in itself, Christians need support and encouragement just like anyone else, and so 'follow up' is a part of this process, with God calling us to make that commitment to another person to encourage them in their faith, trusting that whatever happens God will provide what they need to remain strong in faith, if they so choose.