If you asked 100 adults “Do you wish you exercised more?” how many would you expect to say yes? 75? 90? 100?
I have no statistics, but my gut tells me the majority of Americans share this basic desire. Many successfully follow through on their aspirations. But for others it remains a desire that fails to become their lived experience.
You would probably find a similar pattern if you asked 100 Christians “Do you wish you talked about Jesus more often with the people in your life?” The desire is there, but the follow-through is difficult.
Home workout devices and programs — Peloton, Mirror, BeachBody, etc. — have carved out a huge market for themselves. They achieve this by making it as convenient as possible for people to reach their fitness goals. The secret to their success? Proximity and community.
You do not need to drive to a gym; the equipment is right in front of you. And thanks to the internet, you can tap into a community of people focused on the same activity with a few taps of a button.
MissionHub exists to help people develop the habit of talking about Jesus with others. It makes taking steps of faith more achievable and a community more available when you need it most. People who try using MissionHub often find God leading them into some wonderful conversations and an exciting and faith-stretching new habit.
This simple three-step plan is designed to help you make the most of MissionHub. If you yearn to talk to people about Jesus more confidently and more often, give it a try.
Step 1: Identify who God has placed around you
I tried this three-step plan myself. I began with the assumption that the reason I do not have many conversations about Jesus with non-Christians is that I do not know many.
So I took a few minutes to list the names of people I regularly cross paths with — neighbors, co-workers, family, friends. I quickly named about a dozen people in my life who would not call themselves Christians. It dawned on me that I often allow interactions with them to pass by without even thinking about how God might use me in their lives.
Life is full of moments we share with people like this. Greeting a neighbor while checking the mail, talking to another parent on the sideline of a child’s soccer game, texting a friend about our favorite show. These touchpoints can be a God-given moment to connect with someone in a meaningful way.
When I opened the MissionHub app, I knew that adding a dozen or more people and selecting steps of faith to take with each one of them would set me up for failure. I needed to learn to walk before I could run. So I asked God to help me identify the three or four people I should engage with immediately.
Action Step: Write down the names of people you interact with regularly: neighbors, co-workers, family and friends. You can include Christians you want to encourage along with people you hope to share the gospel with. MissionHub suggests steps of faith to take with both groups of people.
Add the names to MissionHub of those you feel led to pursue this month. Try using the five categories of spiritual interest that MissionHub offers to identify where they are on their spiritual journey.
One thing to note: Adding the names of people you know to an app which prompts you to talk with them about Jesus can feel like you are making them a “project.” I found it helpful to remind myself that I am doing this because I want these friends and family to know God the way I do. MissionHub is simply a tool that helps me translate my concern for those people into actions.
Step 2: Create weekly themes
If you do not have much experience talking with others about your faith or using MissionHub, it can be helpful to give yourself one theme each week that helps you choose the steps of faith you want to take.
You can choose your own themes, but here are three we suggest:
Theme One: Prayer
Click on the “Steps” tab at the bottom of the screen. A list of suggested steps of faith you might take will pop up. Scroll through and select one or two steps related to prayer.
After you select steps of faith, you can set a reminder for yourself. Click on the “Set a Reminder” button attached to each step of faith, set a time, and the app will send you a notification.
You can do this with any step of faith. I found these notifications helpful in two ways:
- The reminder kept my intentions in front of me during the busyness of everyday life.
- Many steps I chose felt small, like they could be done immediately. But I felt anxious as I moved toward steps like asking about people’s spiritual background, inviting them to church or even just sending a text to see how they were doing. Making those steps a goal for later in the week allowed me to mentally prepare.
Note: You might be used to turning notifications off for many of your apps. You need to ensure notifications are turned on if you want to make the most of using MissionHub.
Theme Two: Care
Simply getting to know your neighbors is a step of faith. After spending a week praying for those around you, choose steps focused on developing friendship and showing care. MissionHub suggests steps like inviting someone out for lunch or coffee, complimenting the person on something you admire in his or her character or asking if there is a need you can help meet. You can also create your own steps of faith.
Showing that you genuinely care helps create the environment for spiritual conversations. Which brings us to theme three.
Theme Three: Share
“Share” does not necessarily mean “present the gospel.” Depending on the relationship, the demands of your schedule, and other factors, you might choose steps of faith that simply bring spiritual themes into your conversations. The depth of those conversations can then grow over time. Look for steps such as asking about their experience with Christians, letting them know you are praying for them, or asking what gives them meaning and purpose in life.
One step that invites further interaction about spiritual things is to ask, “Sometime I would love to hear about your spiritual journey. Would you be up for that?” This allows you to start a conversation without creating a sense of immediate pressure.
Action Step: Think about the next three or four weeks and give each one a theme. Write down the themes in a specific week in whatever calendar or diary you use. This can help you stay focused and avoid the feeling that if you did not take a specific step last week you have to bring it over into the new week. At the start of each week you naturally want to be thinking of your next step, not the last one you did not take.
But there is one final step we recommend MissionHub users take if they want the app to make a lasting difference in the way they live.
Step 3: Pray and plan weekly
In order to maintain the rhythm of setting and taking steps of faith, you need fixed points when you will reflect on how things are going. We recommend taking time to regularly pray about the people you entered in MissionHub and to think about what steps you want to take next with each person. Without this time of prayerful planning your good intentions can easily remain only good intentions.
Action Step: Schedule time in your weekly calendar to pray about and plan your next steps of faith. A 20-minute block is fine. Sunday night or Monday morning are often good times for this.
Try doing these four things during this time:
- Review the steps you did or did not take over the last seven days.
- Pray for God to refresh your vision and strengthen your desire to influence those you care about for Christ.
- Think about what next steps would be appropriate.
- Select a step or steps you want to take in the coming week and set reminders.
A plan alone is not enough to turn your desires into actions. Root your plan in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to provide whatever you need to follow through on your intentions.
Up to this point the steps we have suggested sound like they could be completed with just you and your smartphone. The truth is, MissionHub users complete more steps and see God at work in greater ways when they work together.
The key to success: taking steps of faith together
Taking steps of faith becomes more doable and more fun when you do it with others. You might have a week where you feel like nothing is happening. You will benefit from people encouraging you about the specific situations in which you try to take steps of faith. Owning the mission together also means you can celebrate what you see God doing in your community rather than just in your own life.
Why not see if others from your church or small group would join you in trying this three-step plan to more regularly sharing your faith in Christ.
The ‘Communities’ feature in MissionHub is a space where you can challenge and encourage one another. It is also a place where you can see the impact your community is having as you initiate conversations about Jesus.
MissionHub exists to help people like you — people with a desire to make a habit of inviting others to know Jesus for themselves.
If you are not already using MissionHub, you can download the app here.