Anonymous asked:

I’m in a relationship with this guy who truly loves me for who I am. He is a Catholic but he admits to me that he’s not a strong believer like I am. He knows that my faith & my walk with the Lord is the most important thing in my life,& just yesterday he thought about this & told me that he is willing to open up to Christianity & re-build his faith and his walk with the Lord. This was an answered prayer of mine! What should be the next step to lead him closer to God? Advice? Thank you!

I answered:

That is fantastic news about your guy. Also, good on you for having the foresight to look for a strategy to help him get closer to the Lord. You, my friend, have some serious ministry instincts.

The first key thing is to get him some Christian community outside of you. Not that you’re not awesome, it’s just that he needs some brothers in Christ to relate to and have an example from. It is also important that the normal stresses and complications of a relationship aren’t directly tied to his thoughts and feelings about God. This isn’t about getting distance from you, it is about reinforcing his own walk. That will be best for him and, as a side effect, best for your relationship.

You should bring him to a bible study or small group if you are involved in one that is mix gendered. He may be hesitant, which is totally normal. The break through will come with getting him in the door and him seeing that it isn’t that scary and people want him around. Introduce him to older guys or guys in leadership and let some of those bonds start to take.

One way to kick start all of that is to find a way to serve together. If your church does a soup kitchen or food pantry, or if that is helping out with children’s ministry. It is nice to be a team, and that will necessitate meeting other people who are involved. A lot of people, particularly guys, respond more to churchy stuff when it is active. Working to help people especially draws a good picture of what this Christian thing is about. Also, when there is work to do, it drastically cuts down on the standing around awkwardly that so often comes with being in a new place.

Be there to answer questions and, very important, don’t put pressure on him to love stuff or grow like crazy immediately. Let time take its course and the Holy Spirit do its work.

-Matt from The Bridge

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