By Trevin Wax

Last summer, my parents introduced me and my wife to a European board game called The Settlers of Catan. This award-winning game has become wildly popular, especially among college students.

But Settlers is hard to play. The game is expensive. The rules are complicated. Each game requires more than an hour.

To do well, you must master the art of trade, strategic planning, anticipation of loss, and clever surprise. The game is difficult, but people can’t get enough of it.

For most, the difficulty is the draw.

“I can’t add one more program to my life,” the young woman exclaimed. “I’m part of that ‘sandwich’ generation. My children range from the ages of 3 to 13. I use a day timer just to keep their activities organized. My mother is getting on in years and I always feel guilty because I just can’t seem to spend enough time with her. She never complains but I have all this guilt. I come to church and hear about being a good neighbor, the needs of homeless people, mothers in crisis pregnancies, the latest food drive, the early morning prayer group, woman’s Bible study… I just can’t do it. Sometimes I want to run away from it all!”
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In the natural order of things, mature people reproduce. Children don't reproduce, but as they grow older in body in mind, changes occur, they pair off, and couples fall in love and eventually have children together.

It's no different in the spiritual realm. Baby Christians are initially fed on the milk of the Word of God, but at a certain point they began taking an interest in things beyond their own nourishment. They have an urge to see some fruit in their lives in the form of new people being born into the family of God. There is often an awkward adolescent stage for most believers; they want to see others experience the new birth, but don't know how to go about doing it. Simple training is needed.

Rick Warren

When I was growing up, I frequently invited my friends to church. But there always seemed to be one problem: I never knew from week to week if the pastor would be preaching an evangelistic message or an edification message. Whenever I brought a lost friend, it seemed the message would be on tithing or some other growth issue. But on the weeks I  didn’t bring someone, the message would be about salvation! I never knew which week would be “safe” to bring an unbeliever with me – so I eventually gave up.