Evangelism isn’t always about the big conversations. It’s not always about sharing the Gospel or asking someone to pray the sinner’s prayer. Evangelism is about relationships, and sometimes the smallest steps can make a big difference.
During the pandemic, Jeff Kreiser, Executive Director for the ACTS Group, has put a great emphasis on being a good neighbor. As lockdowns, social distancing, and canceling of a lot of normal activities has resulted in people spending more time at home, he made a decision to get to know the people in his neighborhood better and demonstrate the love of Christ.
A widow of Hindu faith lives next door. “We’ve had ongoing faith conversations together,” Jeff says. But those conversations are more impactful if built on the foundation of a solid relationship. And faith seems more powerful if you can show it in action.
“She needs help in terms of her life, in terms of the garbage cans and different kinds of things,” Jeff says. Jeff’s family, including his three sons, make an effort to help the woman take care of the various tasks she might otherwise struggle to handle alone. “We’re trying to show that we’re the kind of people who serve and give and love in the name of Jesus even as those faith conversations continue.”
Often Christians don’t engage in evangelism because they don’t know what to do. Though they are surrounded by neighbors, friends, and coworkers, they aren’t able to identify their opportunities to serve, have meaningful conversations, or just be there for another person. But there’s an app designed to help with that.
There’s an app for that
MissionHub is an app designed to help you be intentional with your everyday relationships by taking the next best step to help others experience God. Based on your own phase in your spiritual journey, the app suggests steps for you, which you can add as tasks to complete. You can keep track of your different relationships, see their progression, and easily find and assign appropriate steps to take with each person.
“I have been amazed by how much MissionHub has increased my intentionality with the people around me,” says Greg Triplett, Pastor of Sunrise Community Church. “Just like the workout app on my phone, MissionHub has become an invaluable tool to exercise my faith muscle and see results as I trust God to shine Jesus to the people around me.”
Take a step
I recently added a friend that I’ll call Shannon. She believes that God exists, but doesn’t have a relationship with Him and doesn’t think that one religion is necessarily better than any other. So when I added her contact, I listed her as Curious. MissionHub then suggested several next steps that I can take with Shannon this week, each falling under one of four categories:
- Relate
- Pray
- Care
- Share
I decided to choose one step from each of the first three sections, deciding that she’s not ready for me to share until after laying more groundwork from the other steps.
Under Relate, I chose the following step: Ask Shannon what brings her the most happiness.
Under Pray, I chose: Ask Shannon how you can pray for her.
Under Care, I went with: Compliment Shannon on something within her values.
That gave me three good steps to take with Shannon over the next week. Each should help build that relationship and build toward her becoming more open to the Gospel. Eventually, God will provide the right situation for me to share the Gospel and I will trust the Holy Spirit to work in her life. But though I am praying for that, for now I am focusing on the three steps I have assigned myself. Evangelism is best taken one step at a time.
Give it a try
You don’t need to be an outgoing, charismatic person to evangelize. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar. All you need is to take a step. That step can be as simple as asking a question, praying, or giving a compliment. It’s something any follower of Jesus can do, and the MissionHub app can help. We encourage you to take one step on MissionHub in the next 7 days.