I think one of the hardest parts of ministry—whether you’re a pastor of a mega-church or an urban youth worker—is developing people to become “self-feeders” (i.e. people who can grow in their relationship with the Lord on their own through personal disciplines in prayer and the Word). So when our youth become self-feeders, there is great rejoicing in heaven (at least in Hilltop).

I’ve been discipling Nathaniel ever since he first gave his life to Christ two years ago. It’s been such a joy to walk with him from ground zero to the honest, pure-hearted man he’s become. In order to encourage him to become a “self-feeder,” I made a challenge: I ask him a question, and he has one week to answer it. Here’s the catch…the only valid answer must come from the Bible. Nothing else is valid (even if it’s the right answer). I also challenged him to reading one chapter per day (starting with Mark). We meet every Tuesday. In order to add a little accountability, we made the following rule: if he hasn’t done all of his homework (including question answered), then he has to vacuum my car. If he does all his homework and has the question answered, then he comes over to my house for dinner.

It’s a win-win for me…either I see growth in my disciple or I have a clean car.

So far, Nathaniel’s won every challenge. He not only comes every Tuesday with his reading done and the answer, but he always comes with a complete hand-written word-study on the topic. He never answers the question with two verses…I’m talking 15 different verses. He’s very thorough!

The best part is seeing the personal revelations that He is having as He’s digging into the Word, and the way that they’re translating into action in his life. Last week’s question was, “What does God think about laziness?” We met yesterday, and he was so anxious to get started and tell me all the things that God showed him.

He read me verse-by-verse all the scriptures about laziness, the sluggard vs. the diligent, etc. When he was done, he exclaimed, “Doug, I found out that laziness is a sin!!! I’ve been lazy my whole life!!! I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it…but it’s a sin! When I woke up this morning, I wanted to turn off my alarm clock. Then I realized that I was being lazy…and that’s a sin! So I got up and went to school.”

We take these simple truths for granted, but Nathaniel was never raised with Biblical truths. His “right and wrongs” looked very different than mine or yours. What joy to see God transforming him by the renewing of his mind (Romans 12:2). God looks past the outward behaviors that made me first overlook Nathaniel, and he sees the man who desires to know God and to please Him. What a joy and an honor that God has allowed us to partake in this ministry!

-Doug Jonson, Sozo