The past two summers, Caleb’s friend Ryan has joined us in our hiking adventures.  Mt. Huron was Ryan’s eighth fourteener, and he clearly has caught mountain fever as well.  As we were sitting and nursing our sore feet and legs a couple of nights ago, he said to me, “I want you to know I still remember one thing you said when we were hiking last year.”

I must confess that I tend to toss out spiritual observations or life lessons as we hike.  I was delighted that Ryan found something I said memorable, though of course I was a little surprised there was only one thing.

“What’s that?” I replied.

“You said, ‘Remember, when you get to the summit, you’re only half way there.’”  We both smiled in agreement with the truth that the hike back down the mountain is often as demanding and dangerous as the hike up. You don’t truly finish your journey to the mountain until everyone is back down safely.

This summer many of our churches are witnessing mountaintop experiences of their own.  Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps and even mission trips often bring a surge in professions of faith, especially from excited children and students.  When those professions are made public or those testimonies are shared in a worship service, the entire congregation celebrates, along with the angels.

This is as it should be, and I hope your church is one of those filling its baptistery with regularity this summer.  As we celebrate the mountaintop of someone’s salvation, though, let’s remember that the Great Commission of Jesus is to make not just converts, but disciples.  The steps that take place after a new believer’s conversion are just as important as the steps that led to it.

I remember with gratitude the Vacation Bible Schools I attended in Southern Illinois, when my teachers taught me how to explain the plan of salvation using different colored hearts.  I remember the incentives they gave us to memorize at least one Bible verse a day, and only later realized how strategically selected those verses were as they equipped me with key foundational truths from God’s Word.  And I remember how my Sunday School teachers continued that discipleship process in my life on a week-by-week basis.

Later as a teenager, when I was trying to reconcile my childhood discipleship training with the pressures of high school in suburban Chicago, volunteer youth leaders taught me how to have a quiet time, how to study the Bible for myself, and how to find answers for the questions and temptations life was throwing at me.

Then as a college student and young adult, it was my Christian friends, usually meeting in small groups for Bible study, prayer and fellowship, who continued the discipleship process in my life.  Their encouragement, positive peer influence, accountability, and discussions of the deeper truths of the Bible helped me further down the path toward Christian maturity.

I’ve been occasionally surprised at how little intentional discipleship has apparently been invested in the lives of even the adult Christians I meet. And when I see children or students come forward to profess their faith in Christ or be baptized, I wonder if they will have the same opportunities I had.

As you celebrate the mountaintop of salvation with children, students and, yes, adults in your church, do you have a solid, intentional plan for walking down the path of discipleship with them?  Do you have the kind of small groups or one-on-one mentoring relationships in place that will protect new believers from the cares and distractions of the world?  If we here at IBSA can help your church in this area, we’d love the opportunity.

As we descend the mountains we’re climbing this week, we encourage one another, guide one another, and point out potential dangers and stumbling blocks.  We direct other climbers to the summit where we’ve just been.  We talk about the joys and challenges of today’s journey and how to prepare for tomorrow’s.  And this week, for the first time, I took a day off to nurse a sore toe and let Caleb and Ryan hike alone.  In a sense, I’ve discipled Caleb as a climber, and now he’s walking alongside Ryan.  And Ryan is learning the lesson that we need to keep remembering in our churches.  After the mountaintop comes the rest of the journey.