What Leading Noblemen Taught Me

In the beginning of this year, I was handed a task that made me hesitate. For the six years since I graduated college, my experience as a minister has been defined by the outreach phase: meeting new people and sharing the Gospel. I was comfortable on a campus with hot cocoa giveaways, flyering, walking in a shark inflatable, and “cookies for a question.” But when I was asked to co-lead Noblemen (a 12-week intensive discipleship group) I knew I was being asked to step out of my comfort zone. I realized this was my next step of faith. I needed to move from being a recruiter to being a disciplemaker.

This was Chicago’s first time running Noblemen. We were aiming for the Southside campuses, UChicago, IIT, and the Loop, where brother engagement has traditionally been low. We spent weeks in prayer, doing outreach with a pull-up bar on campus and giving personal invites.

I was surprised by who God brought. We ended up with seven students from campuses that I thought would not have any guys available! But one moment impacted me greatly as a leader. I remember sharing with the group about my own struggle with the idolatry of climbing and the steps I took to recognize it and eventually give it up. I didn’t realize how God would use that story. One of the brothers, a collegiate baseball player, was so convicted that he asked me if he should quit the team to commit fully to his Christian walk through Noblemen. I was shocked. He had been on the team for three years and was doing well. I told him it was ultimately his decision. The next session, he walked in and told me: “I quit. I’m going all in.” That moment was scary. Seeing a guy make a sacrifice like that puts a weight of pressure on me. I wanted to honor that sacrifice and make this program worth it.

The power of Noblemen is in the consistent dailiness of spiritual habits. The core of the program was the Wingman call: a daily accountability check-in to recite the creed, go over scripture, and pray. I was thankful to be part of these calls because I got to learn so much about how the guys were processing God’s word. It opened up many teaching opportunities where I could help them through the various burdens they were carrying. For the guys, this was a highlight because it gave them a structure they had never had. However, our ministry lead gave us some perspective on a distinct challenge: because Noblemen is point-based and involves many individual assignments, a person could easily come away thinking about their spirituality in a vacuum. Since the brothers primarily interacted during sessions, there was a risk of missing the broader context of the church.

I’m so thankful for the wisdom as we navigated this. Together, we worked to apply that counsel by forming a stronger group identity through shared activities. We intentionally structured in communal moments that connected the brothers to the body of Christ, whether that was having them join for VDOC or helping with flyering for our Easter event.

Everything culminated in FORT week, a week-long experience of living, starting, and ending every day together. It was in those nights that the relationships grew closer significantly. I witnessed the greatest joy of ministry: seeing brothers share vulnerably about sin and watching the group respond with the grace of God’s Word. Many tears were shed. I was amazed seeing how the Gospel had redeemed all these brothers. We wrapped up the 12 weeks with an amazing breakfast at Lumes, but the real celebration was seeing these men walk away as lifelong kingdom workers.

I started the year hesitant to lead thinking that the outcome is dependent on my own abilities. I ended it realizing that when you are willing and are faithful to his people, then God can provide the transformation.

Nicholas is a college mentor at Voyage College Church