However, despite my best efforts, I constantly encountered obstacles, like disinterest and busy schedules. After a full semester of striving to create opportunities to share Christ, I felt discouraged. I decided to shift my approach.

I chose instead to commit to prayer. I wrote three students’ names on a 3×5” notecard and dedicated myself to praying for them. What happened next was truly remarkable! 

Within one week of praying, each of those women independently knocked on my door seeking help. Emily needed advice after failing a class. Audrey was in tears because she missed her family. Ashley surprisingly confessed, “I heard you were a Christian, and I want to get back into my faith this semester.” 

From those interactions, we started a Bible study for our hallway. God brought each freshman woman to my room for that meeting at least once. I had a chance to talk to each one about my faith.

It was clear God was at work. The moment I stopped striving in my own strength and started inviting God to move, He responded powerfully. 

This taught me a profound lesson about sharing my faith with others. It isn’t about our efforts but rather the Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of people around us. We should be willing to recognize that and boldly share Christ in God’s strength. That starts with being open to a form of evangelism that’s based on prayer and radically personal.

What is Personal Evangelism?

Have you ever wondered what personal evangelism means? Maybe you’ve heard it mentioned in church or in conversations among Christian friends. But you’ve never quite grasped its full significance. 

Barna Group states that over half of Christians in the United States feel they are called (that is, that it is their responsibility) to share their faith with others. Given this widespread conviction, Christians like you and me need to become equipped with effective and practical approaches. Why? This type of preparation transforms the desire to share Jesus into action.

At its core, personal evangelism is about sharing your Christian faith through personal interactions as you foster genuine connections with others. Consider this blog post a guide––a walkthrough that will equip you with insights and methods for sharing the gospel with others. For a general definition of evangelism (what it means and what it is), read this.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to enhance your approach, in this blog post you’ll find valuable strategies to help you engage in effective personal evangelism. These strategies will help you nurture relationships that could lead to spiritual transformation in the lives of the people around you.

Understanding Personal Evangelism

Let’s dive into what this is all about.

Personal evangelism is essentially sharing your faith in Jesus Christ through one-on-one interactions. Unlike large-scale evangelistic events, personal conversations allow for the development of deep, meaningful relationships.

We all treasure authentic connections. It’s what makes the personal evangelism method so powerful. 

Biblical examples of personal evangelism

The New Testament consistently lays the biblical foundation for evangelism. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 challenges every believer to “go and make disciples.” Acts 1:8 reminds us that we “will be His witnesses.” Romans 10:15 powerfully asks, “how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The call to reach others with the gospel is clear, motivating all believers to share their faith. 

The Bible also offers numerous examples of personal evangelism. Consider Jesus’ conversations with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26) and the story of Zacchaeus––the man who climbed a tree to see Jesus (Luke 19:1-9). 

These instances illustrate why it’s important to distinguish the individual contexts and needs of the people we’re trying to reach with the gospel. 

For Jesus, evangelism was personal. There’s value there. Your personal story plays a pivotal role in sharing Christ. Sharing how your faith in Jesus has brought you peace and hope can resonate deeply with others. That’s why taking the time to prepare to share it with others is so important.

You can find a solid list of evangelism Bible verses here.

Preparing for Effective Personal Evangelism

Preparation is key for effective one-on-one evangelism. It starts with aligning your heart with God through prayer. Seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, both for yourself and for those you hope to reach. Remember, personal evangelism is about more than sharing information; it’s about fostering a relationship with God. 

Understanding your audience in advance is crucial. 

• Be prepared to ask open-ended questions to invite dialogue and deepen the connection. 
• Be ready to listen to their stories and perspectives and tailor your message to make it relatable. 

• Equip yourself with the right resources. It can make all the difference. Pull up tools like the Jesus Film Project^® app so you have quick access to clips of the JESUS film or short films to enhance your message. These materials have the potential to capture people’s attention and spark conversations. They bridge the gap between your message and your audience’s understanding. 

As you prepare, focus on spiritual readiness, understanding your audience, and prepare to use effective tools for personal evangelism. Also look into effective methods for personal evangelism (I’ll share some below). Having done this, you can approach any situation with a readiness to share the gospel both confidently and compassionately.

Engaging in Personal Evangelism

To engage in personal evangelism, you’ll want to build authentic relationships first. They set the stage for meaningful conversations. 

You can start by trying to understand the person you’re sharing the gospel with and show them genuine care. In this way, you open the door to spiritual discussions. When people feel valued, they are more receptive to discussing their faith. 

Initiating these conversations doesn’t have to be daunting. As you build a friendship, over time try for deeper conversations. Ask open-ended questions like, “What do you think about the role of faith in our lives today?” This will invite dialogue and help you connect with others on a personal level.

Make it a common practice to invite this kind of dialogue. When you arrive at the gospel, it will feel like a natural extension of the conversations you’ve already been having.

Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful tool in personal evangelism. In this case, you are telling your story––the experiences in your life that have drawn you to Christ.

Share personal experiences during which your faith comforted you or led to transformative moments. Your stories can serve to illustrate the impact of faith and invite others to explore their own beliefs about their experiences with faith. 

I’ve had the opportunity to share stories of trusting God in the midst of hardship and grief. 

When I lost my dad, God deepened my compassion for others walking through difficult seasons. That experience became a bridge to share the gospel with friends and family. God can use even our most painful moments to shine His light through us to those around us.

By prioritizing relationships, thoughtfully initiating conversations, and using storytelling, you create a welcoming environment for spiritual discussions. This will make your personal witnessing more effective.

Methods of personal evangelism

Three powerful methods for personal evangelism are lifestyle evangelism, friendship evangelism, and initiative evangelism. 

Lifestyle evangelism involves intentionally living out your faith through your daily activities, hobbies, and community involvement. This naturally opens doors for deeper spiritual conversations. 

When my kids were young, I volunteered my time at a preschool in New Zealand. I wasn’t doing anything extraordinary—just living out my faith in everyday moments. One day, when my friend Lucy’s daughter had a sudden seizure, she called me from the emergency room to ask me if I would come to pray for her daughter. 

I was deeply moved. The way she had seen my faith lived out made a real impact. We prayed together at her daughter’s bedside, and in those sacred moments, our friendship deepened in a powerful and lasting way.

Friendship evangelism focuses on building genuine relationships with people over time. Mutual care and shared experiences create a foundation for discussing matters of faith. 

I had a neighbor who shared that she would like to go back to church. Something was holding her back. I opened my home and my ears to listen and let her tell me the story. After our conversation, she felt free to come back to church with me. She has been coming to church with us for a few months now and we have continued the faith conversations.

Initiative evangelism is about being prepared to share the gospel with those you might not know personally, like a stranger you encounter on any given day. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading when someone appears open to hearing about Jesus. 

God can speak to you through your conscience. If you notice someone near you who might need practical help, take a step to help them. You can then transition into a spiritual conversation.

I’ve had several meaningful conversations with strangers on airplanes. Many times, they’ve shared their stories with me. It’s opened the door to talking about spiritual things. 

I haven’t always been able to fully share the gospel, but I’ve been able to plant seeds of faith. In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” Just by being available and dependent on God, He has used me in those moments. 

Be yourself

God has uniquely gifted each of us. For that reason, our evangelism styles will vary. Some may share their faith through service, while others may do so by sharing their testimonies. Regardless of your method, always be authentic.

Overcoming Challenges in Personal Evangelism

While sharing Christ with others can be deeply rewarding, it also comes with challenges. There are times I have feared how I might be perceived. I have also feared rejection and judgment. 

There’s often a misconception that you need extensive theological knowledge or exceptional speaking skills to evangelize. Remember that sharing the gospel is about genuine relationships and heartfelt conversations, not scripted presentations. Sharing your own faith journey can resonate deeply with others and break down barriers. People might challenge your beliefs, but no one can take away your story.

When faced with objections or questions, approach the conversation with empathy and an open heart. Listen actively and engage thoughtfully. Sometimes asking questions that encourage reflection can lead to meaningful discussions. Building a supportive community with like-minded believers can also enhance your confidence and effectiveness in personal evangelism.

Overcoming obstacles

Overcoming challenges in personal evangelism requires addressing common fears, understanding how to navigate objections, and cultivating a strong, supportive community. 

To conquer fears, begin with earnest prayer, asking God for boldness, open doors, wisdom, and grace. Reflect on the source of your anxieties and memorize Scriptures like 2 Timothy 1:7. Choose to shift your focus away from fear. 

When faced with a question you can’t answer, it’s acceptable and even wise to admit, “I don’t know. Let me find out and get back to you.” This actually allows you to find the answer, and bring the conversation back up with your friend.

Cultivate a community of others who are engaged in evangelism. You can share stories with one another and encourage each other to stay the course. It’s exciting to hear what fellow Christians are experiencing.

Embracing these practical steps will significantly boost your confidence in sharing your faith, enabling you to create a positive and lasting impact on those you encounter.

3 Practical Tips for Personal Evangelism

Opportunities to share Jesus often happen in the everyday moments of our lives. Whether you’re chatting with coworkers, friends, or even strangers, there are countless opportunities to share your faith. 

2. Ask questions

Start with questions to kickstart meaningful conversations. I have used these questions to transition into a spiritual conversation:

• What are your thoughts on faith?
• What gives you hope when things get tough?
• Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 
• Did you grow up in a particular faith tradition? 
• How have your views on God changed over the years?

3. Share online

In today’s digital age, social media and technology offer avenues for being a witness for Christ. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow you to share your faith with a broader audience. Post personal testimonies, inspirational quotes, or links to content like the JESUS film to engage your friends in conversation about the movie. Invite them to share their thoughts about the film and foster meaningful discussions. 

Following up with friends after a social media post about your faith is crucial. If someone shows interest, reach out with a message. Invite them to explore faith further, perhaps over a coffee or by attending church together. Follow up with them regularly. Consistent follow-up shows genuine care for their spiritual journey.

Be consistent

Remember, engaging in effective personal evangelism is about building relationships and sharing your own faith journey. Use the available resources and be patient, as not everyone responds immediately. Your consistent efforts and genuine care will guide others in exploring their faith more deeply.

Resources and Next Steps

To excel in personal evangelism, having the right resources is essential. There are many helpful resources you can find to help you share the Gospel. Combining these tools with your personal testimony can make a significant impact as you share with others. This invites your friends and family to explore the hope and salvation Jesus offers.

• Four Spiritual Laws by Cru^®
• Romans Road from For the Gospel
• Steps to Peace with God by Billy Graham
• GodTools App from Cru
• The JESUS Film 

For insights into the power of film in sharing Christ, read more here. Consider participating in training programs and workshops designed to enhance your evangelism skills. These structured courses teach practical skills, like understanding cultural contexts and mastering the art of storytelling in outreach. Hands-on experiences, role-playing, and group discussions will allow you to practice in a supportive environment. 

Look for local or online opportunities to fit your schedule. Invest time in becoming more effective in sharing Jesus with others.

Building connections with local churches and evangelism groups can provide essential support and resources. Many congregations have outreach ministries where you can collaborate with others passionate about sharing the gospel. Joining these groups offers mentorship and encouragement, helping you grow in your faith-sharing journey. 

Remember, this is all about genuine relationships. Each conversation you have is an opportunity to reflect Christ’s love and grace. This makes a lasting impact on those you encounter. 

Dive into the available resources, connect with your community, and watch your evangelism efforts unfold. This will bring transformative experiences to you and to those you reach.

Ready to start?

I have many stories I could share in regard to one-on-one evangelism. There have been times when the transition from a casual conversation to the gospel has been seamless. There have been times when I’ve tried to share the message but haven’t been able to. 

I have seen strangers pray to receive Christ with me on the spot. I have seen friends pray to receive Christ after years of conversations and debates. All of those experiences have one thing in common: trusting God. Only the Holy Spirit can move in the hearts of people.

This week, commit to taking a courageous step of faith. Maybe you could start with a 3×5” prayer card in your pocket with some names on it. 

Let God work. 

Choose one barrier that has held you back from sharing your faith and intentionally move beyond it. Trust God to work through you.

“As Christians, we must be evangelizing to our friends, neighbors and co-workers,” I’d hear the pastor or evangelist say. And I would usually nod in agreement, along with much of the congregation. But, honestly, if asked, I couldn’t give you the definition of “evangelism.”

Was my pastor challenging us to travel from city to city, preaching the Word of God? Was he saying we needed to be calling people to repentance on street corners or handing out gospel tracts wherever we went? 

Although the word itself has a somewhat simple definition, what it means for Christians like us to understand and apply it involves much more. 

What is evangelism?

There are many definitions of the word “evangelism” out there, and most of them sound similar to one another. Personally, I like how simply Christianity.com puts it in this article: 

Before diving deeper into the definition of evangelism, it’s important to understand what the gospel is. The word “gospel” means “good news,” and that’s what we’re sharing when we evangelize—the good news that Jesus came to the world to restore our relationship with God. 

Like many words common to the Christian faith, the root of the word “evangelism” comes from the Greek language. An article by Ligonier sums it up well: “[Evangelism] comes from the same Greek word for gospel (euangelion) and means, literally, ‘gospeling.’ When we evangelize, we are ‘gospeling’—we are spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

This video sums up the topic of evangelism very well:

What does the Bible say about evangelism? 

Naturally, God’s Word has a lot to say about evangelism. From the beginning, the Bible paints a clear picture: God is on a mission to redeem the world, and He invites His people to participate. Evangelism is not a modern church invention—it was rooted in God’s plan from the start. 

God’s Word is full of examples of people sharing the message of hope in Jesus. The Old Testament contains many biblical prophecies announcing the coming of the Messiah, the One who would restore mankind’s relationship with God after sin entered the world. And when this Messiah, Jesus, does come to the world, people proclaim Him throughout the New Testament. 

Here are just a few places in the New Testament where the Bible talks about evangelism: 

• John 4:28-42 – After her life-changing encounter with Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman rushes back to her village to tell others. Her testimony leads many to believe in Him, and to seek Him out themselves. She models a natural, heartfelt response to encountering Christ: “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.”

• Acts 1:8 – Before ascending to heaven, Jesus commissions His disciples with these words: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem… and to the ends of the earth.” This verse encourages and inspires Christians towards global evangelism. 

• 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – The apostle Paul shares the method he adopted in order to  reach as many as possible. “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” His approach to sharing the gospel was to be as relatable as he could to those he was preaching to so that he could reach them. Paul’s example reminds us that evangelism may take different forms, but the goal remains the same—pointing people to Jesus.

Three modes of evangelism: 

Not all evangelism looks the same. Sometimes we share our faith with someone close to us. Other times, we have the chance to share the gospel with strangers. And often, the way we live in Christian community can speak volumes. 

In Modes of Evangelism, an evangelism resource from Cru, Keith Davy shares three ways Christians can be witnesses of Christ’s love. These are not step-by-step methods, but perspectives that help us see how God works through us to reach the world with His good news. 

Whichever mode of evangelism you find yourself participating in, God can use you to bring the hope of Jesus to others. These modes are not stand-alone—they often overlap with each other. The key is to be available to share the gospel and to trust that God can and will work through you to draw people to Himself. 

Who should evangelize?

The church I attended as a child and into young adulthood placed a strong emphasis on missions, particularly foreign missions. I recall joyfully participating in several giving campaigns every year to support missionaries and mission projects in countries with limited access to the gospel. I would listen to these missionaries with a sense of wonder. I remember thinking how special they must be for God to have chosen them to preach His Word across the world. 

In that setting, it’s easy to assume that evangelizing is for “those people”—the ones God calls to evangelism through some significant or miraculous experience. But evangelism is not just for those who have had a special or unique “calling” experience. Evangelism is something every follower of Jesus is called to. 

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives one last commandment to His followers, urging them to “go and make disciples of all nations…” This command, often called the Great Commission, was a command to those who heard it for themselves and to those of us who read His words centuries later. 

If we call ourselves Christians, we must follow Jesus’ commands, and that includes His command to make more Jesus-followers. That means you and I, and everyone else who calls Jesus Lord, are called to actively evangelize.

How do I evangelize?

Now that we understand that it is our mission to evangelize, what comes next? Do we head to the nearest street corner and begin loudly proclaiming the gospel? Do we buy a pack of gospel tracts and begin leaving them around for people to find? Do we hold a prayer meeting with a call to repentance in our office breakrooms? 

There are a few ways you can begin to engage in evangelism if you have never done it before. My advice? Start small. While you may find the courage to preach to a large crowd about Jesus right now, it’s more likely—and more realistic—to begin with those around you. Let’s take a look at some ways you can start evangelizing now: 

No matter how we choose to begin, whether it’s with a friend, an invitation to church or through a post online, what matters most is our willingness to share. At the heart of evangelism is our love for Jesus and a desire for others to know Him too. 

Why is it hard to evangelize? 

Evangelism can be challenging for several reasons. Opening up about our faith can feel deeply personal, and introducing such a vulnerable topic can be hard even with trusted friends. Fear of rejection is also a big reason many Christians do not open up about their faith. 

There are also outside factors that make evangelism difficult, such as language barriers, cultural differences, and in some places, even laws against sharing the gospel. 

If you find it difficult to evangelize, you are not alone. Many people find the idea of sharing their faith in Jesus pretty nerve-wracking, while others have no problem doing so. I tend to find myself in the first category, nervous even at the thought of talking to someone about Jesus. 

When I experience this, I have to remind myself that God does not ask me to be eloquent or to speak perfectly. I don’t need to be well-versed in theological debate. It’s not up to me to change anyone’s heart, and I couldn’t do that if I tried. My job is simply to be open about my faith, to start the conversation and to share about what Jesus means to me. 

Like anything worth doing well, evangelism takes practice. 

And thankfully, God does not leave us to figure it out on our own. When we find evangelism hard, we can ask Him to reveal ways we can share His love with others. 

There are a number of ways to overcome barriers to the gospel. We can navigate language barriers by using gospel-sharing resources in multiple languages, such as the JESUS film or shorts on the Jesus Film Project app (there is also a helpful video series on how to use the app here). Resources like Cru’s Soularium and the GodTools app are also great tools to naturally start conversations about the gospel. 

This video also gives us another practical approach to sharing the gospel with anyone, anywhere: 

Although it can be challenging, as Christians, we must always be ready to share with someone the reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15) and to point to Jesus when the opportunity arises. 

Evangelism: starting where you are  

When you think of the word “evangelism,” what comes to mind? 

Maybe you think of noteworthy evangelists like Billy Graham or Bill Bright, the founder of Cru. And names like these do fit the image of an evangelist. But they aren’t the only ones. 

Personally, when I think of someone who evangelizes well, the first person who comes to mind is my grandmother—I called her Guela. As a hair stylist, my Guela Elsie considered the clients she served to be her congregation. As she snipped and trimmed, she shared the hope of Jesus to every person who sat in her swivel chair. She would listen to their stories, share her testimony and pray with them. And when she retired, she spent her days walking the streets of Orlando, sometimes over seven miles a day in the summer heat, sharing the gospel and praying for anyone willing to take her up on it. 

My point is that it doesn’t take a three-point sermon or a well-rehearsed speech to share your faith. Start small. Invite someone you know who doesn’t follow Jesus out to coffee or lunch and share your story. 

If you can talk about how Jesus has changed your life, then you are ready to evangelize. 

If you found this post helpful and would like to dive deeper into the topic of evangelism, take a look at these Jesus Film Project blogs: 

• Equipping Yourself for Evangelism 
• What is Digital or Online Evangelism
• Sharing the Gospel: 7 Tips and Tactics

Deep in the jungle of Central Mexico, a music teacher-turned missionary labors faithfully. 

Sometimes he has helpers, like busloads of excited Americans on a mission, ministering with The Message for Mayans team. Members dress up like clowns and hand out toothbrushes and shoes to the villagers. 

Why? To bring spiritual freedom to villages that even Google Maps has yet to discover. 

What’s his plan? Roll into town with a pastor from a nearby village, gather a crowd with clowns singing songs, give away helpful gifts and show JESUS. 

His name is Gama. Jesus called him to love a people group (not even his own), the once-renowned and now often overlooked Maya people. Many Maya struggle with their identity and self-worth despite having a proud historical legacy.

Gama, who is native to Mexico City, left a life of convenience to follow the call to reach the last and the least. Living hours from his own city, he works to restore hope and self-confidence and to give the greatest gift of all––the gospel––to the dispersed Maya people, over 700,000 of them!

Jesus Film Project® has the privilege of joining Gama once a year on his mission. This year, over 90% of attendees in one village gave their lives to Jesus after watching JESUS! 

A showing I attended a few years ago was accompanied by bizarre lights in the sky beyond the screen. I found the Mayan prayer team huddled together, praying in earnest. 

“We don’t want to make our American guests uncomfortable,” they said, “but there is a gathering of witches in the next village. The lights are coming from them. …They don’t want us to be here.” 

By God’s grace, dozens of people gave their lives to Jesus that night, including a taxi driver who stopped by to check out the showing.

Village by village, Gama and his team proclaim freedom to the Maya people. What a privilege for all of us to have just a small part in this journey of faithfulness!

Pastor Gama often sees firsthand how the gospel changes lives and enriches entire communities. He helped to record the Mayan version of The Story of Jesus for Children, one of the most widely used gospel tools in his community. 

Hundreds came to understand the love of Jesus for the first time when Gama premiered the film. One woman cried, “This is unbelievable. Wow, Jesus speaks Mayan. Now I know He knows me and hears my prayers.” 

Hear Gama’s full story on our podcast, The Unheard Story, on Apple Podcasts, PodBean, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Join Pastor Gama, executive team leader for The Message for Mayans, as he shares about the needs of the Mayan population and the powerful way in which Jesus is reaching people in the most remote villages of the Yucatán Peninsula. 

Robin is an agriculture specialist with Unto, the humanitarian ministry of Cru^®. He works with ministries around the world to research and share farming techniques. By teaching communities how to grow their food and earn income through gardening and agriculture, Robin and his team help provide people with ways to feed their families and communities when food and jobs are scarce.

But there’s a bigger purpose at play here. These gardens and farming techniques are bringing communities worldwide face-to-face with the gospel.  

I got the chance to sit down with Robin and chat about how his work fulfills the Great Commission, and what it means for the everyday Christian to live on mission in community in practical ways. 

Through workshops, mission trips and partnerships worldwide, Robin sees firsthand how practical skills—like composting, raised garden beds or installing irrigation—can open doors to deeper spiritual conversations, and eventually to the gospel. 

Interview With Robin Greaves 

Robin’s unique role gives him a front-row seat to how missional community works in real life, especially on the mission field. And the lessons he’s learning overseas offer powerful examples of what it looks like to live on mission in community, no matter where we are.

What a Garden Can Teach Us About Missional Living

When Robin isn’t traveling the world to teach farming techniques and share the gospel, you’ll find him in Cru’s community garden. This plot not only serves as a research site for his work with Unto, but also as an example of community. 

While a portion of this space is reserved for Robin’s hands-on research, the rest is open for Cru staff to plant and grow whatever they’d like. Through their work in the garden, people find themselves connecting with one another in unexpected ways, each growing their own fruit, vegetables, or herbs, yet all serving one common purpose. 

The Bigger Picture: It’s Not About the Garden

The work that Robin is doing with Unto paints such a beautiful picture of how meeting practical needs can serve the higher calling of fulfilling the Great Commission. In the garden, people connect by working alongside one another, learning ways to meet needs both at home and abroad, and using these as avenues to share Jesus. 

But at the end of the day, it’s not about growing vegetables or gardening; it’s about cultivating something deeper—connection, community, and ultimately, life transformation through the gospel. 

A community garden may be the “thing” that creates a space for one person or group to encounter the gospel through Christian community. But for someone else, it might look entirely different. The heart of missional living in community is simply using what God has given you, where you are, to reach others with the love and hope of Jesus.

What’s Your “Community Garden”

There are many ways you can build a sense of neighborhood, as Robin said. Maybe it’s not a community garden (although it might be). But wherever you are, you can do something to live out your mission in your community. 

• Maybe you’re part of a book club—what would it look like to open it up to someone outside your usual circle?
  
• Are you gifted with your hands—woodworking, sewing or painting? Could you share that skill in a way that invites others in?
  
• Do you love to cook or bake? What if your kitchen became a space for connection or hospitality?
  
• Are you a mom? Could you gather other moms who need community, encouragement or rest?
  
• Do you live in an apartment complex? Maybe your common room becomes a place for ministry, like Apartment Life—an organization that builds community by connecting apartment residents through intentional gatherings and events. 

Maybe you’re already engaged in community through a shared hobby or regular gathering, but it’s exclusive. Could this be a place to invite someone who believes differently than you, or who has yet to meet Jesus? 

When living on mission meets living in community, ordinary things—like a garden—can become extraordinary ways to fulfill the Great Commission. I hope that my chat with Robin helped inspire you to find the way you can live out your mission and invite your community in.

Soon after, I began to hear “missional community” more and more often in Christian circles. There’s nothing new under the sun, and trends come and go, sadly even in the Christian church. But missional community, I’ve found over time, is not a new trend and it’s not a buzzword. 

Missional community––or living missionally in community––is Biblical. And God wants us to live our lives within missional communities for one important reason: through them, we strive together to be living examples of His love and share the gospel. In community, we are spiritually strengthened for the mission of being light in the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

I can now understand why my friend was so saddened that those in her church weren’t making an effort to live missionally together. But in the absence of a church body to align with this passion for missional community, I believe we can and should invite others to live missionally with us and in this way build missional communities of our own.

Understanding Missional Community

What is a missional community?

I’ve observed that many people in the church (myself included) are almost always crying out for community. We want to gather with other Christians who share similar interests and with whom our lives coincide. That’s not always possible. We live far from church, our schedules don’t line up, or when they do, we realize we don’t have anything in common––at least with those in the Bible study located closest to us. 

We seek community for a mutual building up of our faith, and rightly so. We’re looking for Godly friendships, accountability, a place to grow and “do life together.” As good as these things are, when we talk about missional community, these benefits are not the driving force. They’re not supposed to be.

A missional community is a group of Christians who does life together, but do so with the intent to share Jesus. A missional community enriches our desire for community, turning that desire outward for the sake of the world.

Our alignment centers around our mutual inclination to help others experience the love of Jesus. 

Missional communities in the Bible

The Acts 2 church

John Frederick David, of The Lausanne Movement, has this to say about the apparent newness of missional communities: 

“Missional communities aren’t a new program or strategy, but a return to how the early church lived out their faith, as described in Acts 2:42-47, where their communal life and devotion to God attracted others to the faith.” 

In his article on missional communities, David calls it crucial to the spread of the gospel. And indeed, as we see it in Acts 2:42-47, we owe the growth of the early church and those being saved to missional communities. 

What were the earliest Christian communities like? They were both extremely communal and missional at once. The early church sought one another out at every turn, for encouragement during persecution, for a place to gather and discuss Jesus. They shared meals, met needs, worshiped and prayed side by side. They sustained each other physically and spiritually.

The early church thrived because they lived out their faith together in community. But it was their penchant for gathering together “with glad and sincere hearts” as they praised God that made all the difference. I can only imagine it promoted an environment that drew people in and nurtured their first steps of faith in Christ. 

They shared the gospel, the good news of Jesus, with their lives.

The joy of missional community living

Missional community not only enriches our lives but also serves as a powerful form of Christian witness. It’s the love of the gospel modeled between Christians for the world to see. 

One of our writers, Alexandra Rodriguez, sums it up well in this blog post:

I’m reminded of one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Psalm 133, where the psalmist reflects:

A missional community is a picture of the gospel to a world that yearns for true community––love, forgiveness, peace and unity through Christ. The reason for our displays of humility, gentleness and unity? To live worthy of the calling to which we have been called––the mission of the gospel (Ephesians 4:1-6). But also as proof that we are truly Jesus followers.

Jesus said: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35).” 

Missional community—what it’s not

It seems to me that in order to have impact, missional communities don’t operate in exclusivity and don’t meet only to serve their members. Their love for each other and the genesis of that love––a Godly pursuit of Jesus––is visible and palpable to the world around them. That being said, there are a few important things to note that missional community is not.

A Bible study

Is a missional community the same as a Bible study? If our sole purpose is to read the Bible with other Christians and discuss it, then no, we’re not quite being a missional community. We’re learning and growing together, for sure, but it’s when we apply what we’re learning beyond the walls of our meeting room that we begin living missionally together. 

This means we regularly talk to others (and not just believers) about the truths we find in Scripture and how they’re changing us with the help of the Holy Spirit. We pray together for those unreached with the gospel, at home and abroad. 

A regular church event

As a community of believers dedicated to glorifying God and making disciples, missional community gatherings are not simply weekly events to attend. 

I’m not rejecting the church’s participation in missional community or our participation in church events that are community-focused. We should definitely attend community outreaches hosted by our church. Our churches should be missional churches––and many are. 

But a missional community church sees its greatest missional activity outside of church walls and beyond church programs, because those who benefit from it can’t or won’t come to church. 

Surely you and I both know people who cannot or will not participate in a “church event.” Now imagine your group of friends, largely believers, deciding to meet up once a week at a local coffee shop and you invite anyone to join, including your friends who don’t know Jesus. It’s not an event. It’s life. That’s a missional community.

It’s not another item on the social calendar, a responsibility to tick off the list or somewhere to go on a weeknight or a weekend. This perspective shifts our focus from treating church as a place we attend to being the church out in the world. 

Small groups and life groups

It’s great to find common ground and attend weekly gatherings where we make lifelong friends. However, often for these groups the purpose is to find community only with each other. And life groups that solely aim for the feeling of community can fizzle out for lack of stronger motivation.

In this article from The Gospel Coalition, Pastor Todd Engstrom puts it this way: 

This doesn’t mean that small groups and life groups can’t evolve into missional communities. 

I’m in awe of a family of four in my church that has done this well. Although he is an elder and she is heavily involved in church, every second and fourth Sunday of the month they open up their home for lunch and fellowship. Their goal? To discuss and plan ways everyone in the group can reach out to their neighbors with the message of the gospel. This includes inviting their neighbors for dinner, checking in on them and welcoming them to church any given Sunday. 

In seeing the need to reach out to their own neighbors, this family made their life group about everyone reaching out to their neighbors! And they include their two children. More importantly, the purpose of the life group extends beyond those who attend it. Its purpose lives on as long as those who attend it have neighbors who need to know Jesus.

An irregular gathering of strangers

A missional community functions like an extended family who regularly prays, engages in Bible study, shares meals, has fun, supports each other, but above all is dedicated to reaching their friends and neighbors with the love of Jesus. We’re talking about a collection of missional Christians with a vision and mission of community.

Missional communities:

• have family-like bonds, sharing their lives, resources and responsibilities.
• actively participate in God’s mission; they both proclaim the gospel and demonstrate it with their lives.
• are focused on a specific context, with many serving a particular neighborhood or a network of relationships.
• are held together by their commitment to each other and the mission.
• are empowered by the Holy Spirit; they rely on God’s guidance and strength in everything.

Missional community and discipleship

In this Desiring God article, writer Jeff Vandestelt centers on this idea of family or missional families over life groups or Bible study groups. “A missional community is a family of missionary servants who make disciples who make disciples. … The missional community is the best context in which this can happen.”

It’s not lost on me that, through their missional community, the family at my church is discipling other families as well as modeling how to share the gospel and disciple others. Their lives are not hidden away. They share it all, the good and the bad. They make their need for Jesus evident and long for others in their community to realize their need for Him as well. 

We live missionally in our communities when we share every part of us, including our ever-evolving walk with Christ and how He changed us and continues to change us to be more like Him, often through trials and challenging relationships. 

Missional communities are the foundation of missions abroad. In fact, one Jesus Film Project^® resource, Knowing Jesus, relies on missional communities to multiply the gospel. People in unreached places gather in small groups to go through this curriculum. As they grow in Jesus through the material, they also learn to build new missional communities where they can lead others in knowing Jesus. In this way, the gospel spreads in community, as it did in Acts 2. 

Who should take part in missional community? 

Everyone––all of us––every single Christian, from oldest to youngest. Sometimes the busyness of work and home, of raising a family, can make it seem like missional living is not for us. 

Missional community is for singles, spouses, friends and families. 

For many single people, making new friends, maintaining friendships and finding one’s spouse can take top priority in where we commit the most energy. But I believe Christians can find these blessings in missional communities as well, all the while living out the Great Commission together.

Missional community living is meant to happen at home too. Here’s a great insight from John Fredrick David’s article on missional communities on The Lausanne Movement website.

“In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16, Paul highlights how a believer’s faithful conduct can have a sanctifying influence on their unbelieving spouse, potentially leading to their salvation. This demonstrates that the proclamation of the gospel’s power should not be confined to verbal proclamation, but must also be manifested in the daily lives and loving interactions of believers.”

Our families are the perfect nucleus for missional living and the best starting line for a missional community. For a great way to start conversations with your family about what it means to live on mission, download and explore our free resource Life on a Mission: A Family Devotional. This five-day devotional for families includes a coloring page, discussion questions and tips for living on mission.

Participating in Missional Community

How to build missional communities

Serve together

One of the most impactful and simplest ways to begin to practice missional community with others is to serve together. This could involve:

• Organizing or participating in local outreach events. Partner with schools, shelters or food banks to coordinate fundraising or community drives. Sign up for a Saturday shift. I guarantee you other families or groups of friends will show up as well. Model the love of Jesus and engage in conversation while you serve. Consider collecting supplies for Unto, Cru’s humanitarian ministry. 

• Hosting community meals or block parties. Your home may not be large enough for hosting meals or a barbecue, but maybe the community center is, or your neighborhood pool. A block party can be complicated if your neighborhood requires permits, but instead of blocking the street, you could suggest a set of street “open houses” in which several neighbors open up their homes for the afternoon, one for lunch and another for dessert. Invite friends from church to bring a dish to share and introduce them to your neighbors. Have them return the favor next month when you get to meet their neighbors.
  
• Offering tutoring or mentorship programs. Many students do poorly in school and their parents cannot afford to provide them with a tutor. Could you step in and help someone you know? Other children just need a place to wait after the bell rings while their parents finish their work. Can you and your children model what a Christian family looks like to those children a couple of hours a week? 
  
  I once volunteered for a literacy program and became fast friends with the older gentleman I read alongside every week at the library. We certainly visited the same local library, but if not for the literacy program wouldn’t have met. Even though I attended the program by myself, it was a great opportunity for me to live missionally by tapping into my community. 

These practical acts of love unite us around a common goal as well as meet tangible needs. Events and programs within the community are ideal soil for initiating new relationships, and these relationships may one day present an open door to sharing the gospel. Until then, it allows us to live according to Ephesians 5:8-10, as children of light, showing goodness, righteousness and truth.

More missional community ideas

Consider these three missional community ideas that others have found effective: 

1. Neighborhood prayer walks – praying for your community while walking through it.
2. Cultural events – celebrating local festivals of holidays and finding ways to point back to the message of the gospel.
3. Book clubs – gathering to read books that spur on thoughtful discussion and allow people to connect on a deeper level as they share their experiences, hopes and struggles.

Do these spark any ideas? Can you do something similar in your community? 

In this article from The Gospel Coalition, Pastor Engstrom defines a missional community this way: “A community of Christians, on mission with God, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, who demonstrate the gospel tangibly and declare the gospel creatively to a pocket of people.”

Look for promising pockets of people who not only need to hear about God’s love but need to experience it firsthand through your kindness and investment in their lives.

If I’ve successfully thought of pockets of people who need Jesus, I’ve already done half the work. Now I can look for promising pockets of time, energy, creativity and skill unique to me, me and my spouse, or to me and my family and friends, that could help me love others well and draw them to Jesus. And if there’s at least one other person who might be passionate about doing it with me, I can bring them along.

Overcoming challenges to missional community

We can expect regular challenges to living in missional community, from lack of transportation to lack of interest from our friends, and sometimes even from our church family. Even if everything lines up, the people and the means, living missionally in community will require extra creativity on our part. Sometimes it will require planning, pre-planning and rescheduling, as well as an intentional effort to make it happen regularly. 

Busy lives

The regular rhythms of our lives are typically the biggest challenges to our spiritual pursuits.  We’ll encounter conflicting schedules, limited resources and even waning enthusiasm. Maybe in this season of life, you’re caught up in caring for young children or aging parents. You may be starting a business or be absorbed in keeping one afloat. 

Expect the distractions and the obstacles and try for it anyway. 

Inconsistency and Inconvenience 

Consistency has always been my greatest challenge. As I pursue missional community, I don’t mind gathering two weeks in a row, but three times feels like too much for this introvert. It’s easier to skip and revisit in a few weeks. But by then, I have to work up the nerve to participate again. What opportunities to share the gospel will I have missed by that point?

Sometimes it’s just inconvenient. Handing out waters and giving out gospel tracts downtown with my friend was easy to do when the weather was cooler. But now it’s about to be summer in Florida and I’d rather not sweat through my clothes.

My friend has also invited me and a few others to drive around to locations of little free libraries (large mailboxes that function as tiny community libraries) to place Bibles and gospel tracts inside them. I have not said “yes” as much as I probably should have. But I have determined to say “yes” next time, because the spiritual investment has too high a return.

When I’m consistent in pursuing missional community with like-minded believers, despite the inconvenience, I find spiritual strength and motivation to do it for myself when the moment arises. I also receive more opportunities to be Christlike in both word and action, which is eternally fulfilling.

Inviting Your Christian Community Into Missional Living With You

Am I practicing missional community?

These days, after many failed attempts at consistent missional community, I’m still a firm believer in taking the first step––however big or small. And the first step doesn’t always have to be an action; it can be an initial thought or asking and answering a set of questions to get you closer to doing. 

Consider your life and your family’s life as it stands right now. 

• Do I regularly go to any places where I have the opportunity to share Jesus and model Jesus? What are they? List them out. Who can do this with me?
• Do I have a solid Christian friend, or know of an older Christian with whom I can meet to learn how to share my faith? Who else can we add to our gathering? 
• Where can my family integrate the message of Jesus into our existing social calendar? (Think of regular activities you do with your spouse, children or other family members in which you can plan to be examples of a God-surrendered life.)

I hope you were able to think of places where you can plant the seed of missional living and see it grow. More importantly, were you able to think of someone who can do it with you? The fruit it bears will be your example of Christlike faith, consistency and love for wherever and whoever you consider your community.

A life lived in a missional community

To learn more about missional communities and for more ideas on how to build them, review these great missional community resources.

• What is a “Missional Community”?
• How to Build a Missional Community
• Rethink the Ideal Missional Community

Now that you’re well-versed in the concept of missional community, my prayer is that it’s more than just a concept or an idea. I pray missional living is not just a term we understand, but that as Christians we naturally find ourselves in environments with people also dedicated to sharing Christ. 

I pray you invite your Christian community into missional living with you. Don’t do it alone. You were never meant to. Share this blog with a friend. Then, go in prayer before the God who rejoices in small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10) and thank Him for your next opportunity to show and tell someone in your world about His love.

These small, everyday moments remind me that missional living isn’t about going overseas—it’s about being present and intentional wherever we are. As Christians, our neighbors, coworkers, and even strangers we encounter in our daily routines are part of our mission field. Wherever you are, whoever you’re with, you are on mission. The Great Commission calls you to that mission. 

The following 10 Scriptures are intended to help Christians like us live missionally.  My hope is that these Bible verses on missional living will equip and inspire you to walk boldly in that calling. Feel free to bookmark them, highlight them or tuck them away to reflect on later.

1. Ephesians 2:10 – Know Your Purpose

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” — Ephesians 2:10, New International Version

This verse demonstrates three truths about our life’s purpose as Christ followers: 

1. We were made on purpose. No matter the circumstances into which we were born, God handcrafted each of us with love and intention, and He had our purpose in mind when He did so. 
2. He prepared meaningful work for us to do before we were even born. Another verse in the book of Psalms says that God ordained our days before one of them came to be. 
3. The work God has for us to do is good, leading us to serve others practically out of love for them. It reflects God’s kingdom and His heart, and it comes as a result of our walking with Jesus.
   

Missional living begins with this understanding––that we are not here by accident. God made you and me for a purpose. And part of that purpose is to be His hands and feet in the world. When we see our neighbors, coworkers and baristas as part of that purpose, we begin to understand what it means to live missionally.

2. Matthew 28:18–20 – Embrace the Great Commission

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'” — Matthew 28:18–20, NIV

This passage, often called the Great Commission, is Jesus’ final command before He returned to heaven. It’s a charge to every believer: Go. Make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them.

Missional living means we don’t keep Jesus to ourselves. It means stepping out and sharing the love we’ve received. Whether we fly across the globe or step across the street, we as Christians are called to participate in the mission of sharing His message of hope and love. 

3. Colossians 4:2–3 – Start With Prayer

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.” — Colossians 4:2–3, NIV

The apostle Paul knew the importance of prayer in living a Christ-centered life. In his letter to the Colossian church, he encouraged them to devote themselves to prayer for themselves and for him and his ministry, even through the persecution he suffered. 

When we pray, we partner with God in the mission. We can ask Him to prepare hearts, open doors for us to share the gospel and to give us boldness. And He is faithful to answer prayers. 

Don’t underestimate the power of your prayers for the people around you. Even silent or whispered prayers can impact someone’s eternity.

4. Acts 2:42–47 – Live in Community

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” — Acts 2:42–47, NIV

The early church thrived because they lived out their faith together in community. They shared meals, met needs, worshiped and prayed side by side.

You don’t have to live missionally alone. In fact, you’re not meant to. True community—genuine, Christ-centered relationships—is one of the most compelling witnesses to a watching world. When those outside of a relationship with Jesus see how we as Christians live our lives alongside one another, serving each other out of genuine love and care, it shows them a picture of what life looks like as a part of God’s Kingdom, as part of His family. This picture of love in action shines a light in a world longing for connection, revealing the gospel in a practical and tangible way. 

Your church community is a great place to start. And if you’re looking for a way to challenge your congregation to live on mission, this resource by Pastor Tim Keller gives a great picture of what a missional church looks like. 

5. 1 Corinthians 9:22–23 – Be Relevant

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” — 1 Corinthians 9:22–23, NIV

Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church challenges them to understand that living a holy life does not mean acting so differently from the rest of the world that they no longer relate to those around them. Paul wasn’t about putting on a religious mask. His ministry brought him face to face with people, and he served them and taught them, caring for them and showing them how Jesus changed his life. 

Living missionally means being approachable. It means caring about what others care about, learning their language and stepping into their world—not to become like those who don’t know Jesus, but to bring Jesus to them.

6. 1 Peter 3:15 – Always Be Ready

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)

The gospel is personal, but it’s not private. We’re called to be ready—to explain, to testify, to share why Jesus gives us hope.

Sometimes those opportunities come when we least expect them––in a classroom, at a soccer game, over coffee, or waiting in line at the store. This verse challenges us to always be ready to share the hope we have in Christ. That could mean sharing the story of how you started following Jesus, or using a ministry tool or resource to help you dive into a gospel-centered conversation. And when the door opens, speak with gentleness and respect. 

7. Acts 8:34–35 – Seize the Opportunity

“The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” — Acts 8:34–35, NIV 

Philip didn’t plan that encounter. The Holy Spirit led him there. But because he was ready and willing, he was able to seize the moment and lead someone to Jesus. He was even able to baptize the man when they came upon a body of water on their journey. 

Living missionally means sharing the gospel at any time, in any situation. As Christians, it’s not enough for us to have the hope of Jesus within us. We are charged with sharing that hope with the world, just as Jesus and His disciples did.

I once taught English in a country where sharing the gospel was restricted. During a tutoring session, a student showed me an English book she was reading: The Chronicles of Narnia. I took that moment to show her parallels between the story and the Bible, and that conversation turned into a chance to share the gospel and pray with her. By God’s grace, I was able to recognize that opportunity and take action. This passage challenges all Christians to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and share the gospel when possible. 

8. Colossians 4:5–6 – Speak with Grace

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” — Colossians 4:5–6, NIV 

How we speak matters. In a world full of noise, missional living means choosing our words carefully. When we speak with grace and wisdom—online or in person—we reflect Jesus. That might mean responding with kindness when others don’t. And sometimes, that grace opens doors for deeper conversations about faith.

We represent Christ. Every word counts. You never know when a gentle answer might soften a heart or spark curiosity about your hope.

9. Luke 10:30–35 – Be a Neighbor

 “Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”‘” — Luke 10:30–35, NIV

Jesus told this story to redefine what it means to be a neighbor. The Samaritan showed love even though it went against the cultural norms of the day. His actions demonstrated that his concern and care for this man went beyond customs and expectations.

How often do we go out of our way to serve someone who cannot repay us, or who might even consider us their enemy? Living this way pulls us out of our comfort zones, requiring us to love our neighbors in practical, sacrificial ways. Jesus modeled this for us throughout His earthly ministry, and He calls us to follow His example. 

10. 1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 – Share Your Life

“Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” — 1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV

Missional living is not just about proclaiming the gospel—it’s about being present. It’s not enough to tell others about Jesus, but we’re called to go further, walking with them, loving them and inviting them into our lives. 

It’s easy to tell someone in need that we are praying for them or to offer encouragement when someone is struggling. But missional living goes beyond words—it challenges us to be involved in the lives of those God has placed around us, to invest our time and energy in these relationships and to meet the needs we see when we can. It means sharing our lives with others as well, allowing others to serve and care for us when we need it. 

In this verse, Paul models this way of living for the Thessalonian church. Paul and his companions Silas and Timothy invested in people beyond preaching by sharing their lives. They cared for them and allowed themselves to receive care in return. We’re called to do the same.

Living out the mission

While there are many ways to express the gospel message, living a missional life takes intentionality—careful thought and focused action. It means understanding that Jesus changed us and sent us to the world to proclaim His love to everyone still waiting to encounter Him. And it means living in a way that shows Jesus to others even when we aren’t speaking. 

Fulfilling the Great Commission is the mission of every believer. And living missionally doesn’t always require you to jump on a plane to a least-reached country or preach from behind a pulpit on Sunday morning. What it does require is a willing heart and a daily commitment to love people like Jesus. 

I hope these Bible verses on missional living helped encourage and equip you to walk out that calling. Looking for more inspiration? We wrote this blog all about how to live missionally just for you.

The onboarding packet or video typically helps you understand your new employer’s mission, vision, and values––what the company stands for and why they exist. 

Now, imagine you went through the full onboarding process and were shown to your desk. But, there was just one problem: no one had shared a job description with you. In the interview and onboarding process, everyone talked freely about the company’s purpose, culture and dress code (casual, but no t-shirts, please!). 

You were told what the company is best known for, what they aim to achieve in the coming years, and whether or not your Labradoodle can come to the office on Fridays. But when it came right down to what you were actually going to do in this new role, your understanding was pretty hazy.

This, friends, is the condition of the church. 

Jesus followers have a pretty firm understanding of what their church stands for, why it exists, and whether it’s raising money to rebuild an orphanage in Haiti or add a community gym in its back parking lot. Because of that, we are able to show up every Sunday, chat with our peers, give to causes, and try––to the best of our ability––to love God and our neighbors. 

Friends, here is the VERY good news. When you said yes to following Jesus, that was the moment you opted in to His mission. Followers follow their leader, and our leader has a mission. 

Stop thinking about being called as an “if” question, and start thinking of it as a “how” question. 

You’re in! Now What?

Jesus’ message more than 2,000 years ago is the ultimate corporate values statement for the church:

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, New International Version).

Jesus’ words are crystal clear. We exist to worship God with every part of ourselves––to the core of our beings––and we are to afford all the kindness, grace, respect and love to our neighbors as we would hope to receive.

These words from Jesus, known as the Great Commandment, are very instructive to us as His followers. Thanks to Him, we know how to approach God and the world. But this is only part of the story. What’s missing is our marching orders––our actual job description. 

At a practical, tangible level, what does the Christian life look like? What are we actually supposed to do every day? What does our role entail as God’s representatives here on Earth?

If you’ve attended church for any stretch of time, you might be thinking now about your various volunteer roles within your church’s ministries. Whether you’ve folded programs or played with babies in the nursery, collected food supplies for the church pantry, or served as a parking lot attendant on Sundays, you’ve intentionally played a part in the operation of your church. 

You’ve embraced a role––probably multiple roles. And you know what? Your effort matters. 

Every single one of those volunteer activities is important, both for the health of the church and for the people it serves. Your willingness to serve is one way you are honoring the Great Commandment, by loving God and others. 

However, the Great Commandment is just part of the story. 

Next Step? The Great Commission

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV). 

Let’s all pause now for a moment of silence. Because that’s a lot to take in. In fact, you might be thinking about inching your way toward the nearest church exit right now. 

If you’re thinking, “Whoa. Wait!  That sounds like a job for missionaries and church leaders. That’s not a task for regular people like me,” then I’m here to assure you, gently, that it is for regular people like you and me. I’ll also tell you that it is normal for you to have this reaction.

To be sure, if you’re like most Christians, this moment in Scripture can feel incredibly overwhelming, which makes it enticing to skim over or point a finger elsewhere. In fact, I think it would be abnormal if you were to read Matthew 28:19-20, sit with it for a while, and feel overwhelmingly confident. I mean, it’s loaded with elements that would make anyone in their right mind uncomfortable. 

I’m supposed to go? Where? And make disciples? “Make” sounds a little coercive. And I need to do this across all nations? Even the dangerous ones? And baptize people? I’m definitely not qualified for that. And this whole “teach them to obey” thing––I can’t even get my dog to stop jumping up on the furniture! How can I teach another human to surrender to you, God? 

The barrage of self-doubt, negativity, and feelings of being ill-equipped for the task has the potential to snowball, creating a mountain of perceived incompetence so high, it seems insurmountable. You might even throw your hands up and say something like “I did not sign up for this!”

But guess what? You did!

When you entered into a relationship with Jesus and chose to follow Him, that meant you did indeed sign up for this important role. You opted to join the company. You embraced the mission, vision, and values. And now it’s time to get comfortable with your job description.

The Great Commission and the Church

Still uncomfortable or unclear about your part in the Great Commission? You’re not alone. A few years ago, Barna Group, a nonprofit research firm in California, published a study on the U.S. church’s ideas about missions, social justice, the Bible and sharing the gospel. 

According to their research, 51% of U.S. churchgoers are unaware of the Great Commission, and an additional 25% of Christians are aware of it but can’t recall what it means. To say this is shocking is an understatement. It reveals a sad state of affairs for the American Church! 

Why we’re not moved to participate

There are a lot of potential reasons for Christians being unaware or seemingly unaffected by the call of the Great Commission, but from my perspective, a few reasons rise to the top. 

1. If churches talk about the Great Commission but do not pair it with action, it becomes just another concept that’s discussed but not practiced. 
   
   Churches have to commit to making disciples who make disciples! And this involves more than talk; it requires teaching people how to serve the nations, otherwise messages or sermons on the Great Commission will fall on deaf ears.
   
2. People need on-the-job training. They need to see Great Commission practices role-modeled. Have you seen the Great Commission play out in the life of someone you know in the church?

3. For Jesus’ mandate to be effective, the Great Commission must be an integral part of the church’s identity. Most importantly, we need disciples who make disciples, who make disciples, and so on. This is not a one-and-done idea. 

We all play a part (the problem with labels)

You might be thinking, “But we have a global missions ministry!” Yeah, but when we delegate God’s mission to people who are labeled “missionaries” or “global mission leaders,” we can accidentally send a message that releases everyone else from the duty. The Bible is so very clear; this is not God’s intention! 

He wants every single one of us to play a part in bringing His compassion, hope and light to all the people of the world. We all have been created and instructed to serve; this work is not for a chosen few, and it doesn’t require an elevated degree or certification. Anyone, anywhere, with any personal history can do it. 

There are literally no prerequisites other than following Jesus. 

A change of heart

This incredibly exciting job description has been given to us. We were literally made for it by the creator of the universe! But most of us are leaving it on the table. To remedy this, it’s going to require significant changes within God’s global church. 

It’s also going to require changes within the hearts and minds of Jesus followers, too, because the problem goes much deeper than just a lack of understanding about the Great Commission. It’s not simply a problem of education, it’s also the breeding ground for a very special type of fear, and an opportunity for each of us to exercise a deeper level of trust in our Creator.

What Can You and I Do Today?

I invite you to consider your own inner dialogue. Take a moment to reflect on the Great Commission and the meaning it carries. 

• When you hear Jesus’ words, do you feel inspired and ready to partner with Him by living it out? Or does your head fill with all the competing reasons you are not equipped for the mission? 

• Try to identify the root cause of your reaction, not just the reaction itself. Having clarity about the reasons behind your automatic responses will help you learn how to recognize and counter the voices in your head with the real truth, the voice of God. 

Knowing who you are today and how your hopes and fears impact your choices can help you see more clearly all the possibilities that are ahead when you embrace the person God actually made you to be.

Most importantly, like with any job, you just need to start. We all get better with practice.

For many, Easter Sunday is a day to get together with family, hunt for Easter eggs and maybe get a visit from the Easter bunny. Your family might share a special meal like roast lamb, or baked treats like hot cross buns. My family celebrates Easter with a lunch where everyone–including my cousins, aunts and uncles–brings a dish to share. For people of different faith backgrounds, Easter is a celebration of springtime. But for Christians like us, the meaning of Easter is much more. 

Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is one of the most important holidays in Christianity.  It commemorates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, Easter reminds us of the hope and new life we have in Christ.

Why Does Easter Matter to Christians?

To understand why we celebrate Easter, we have to go back to the beginning. 

Genesis 1 tells us that when God created the world, He made everything good, including the first man and woman. But when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command, they made a way for sin (the breaking of God’s law) and brokenness to enter the world. 

The consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and separation from God, and from that point on, everything and everyone would carry the mark of sin. 

But God, being loving and compassionate towards His creation, provided a way to pay the price for the sins of the world. In His love, He sent His own Son, who had never sinned, to the world. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, and He showed us the way God wants us to live. 

But Jesus had a mission. He was to be a sacrifice, given in exchange for the sins of mankind. He was crucified–executed on a wooden cross–by the leaders of the day. When Jesus died, He took our sin, and the death that came with it, upon Himself. 

But Jesus did not remain dead. On the third day after His death by crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and began appearing to His followers. 

This is the reason we celebrate Easter: because of the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection!

This is great news for everyone who believes in Him because those who do believe receive the promise of everlasting life with God. This special holiday symbolizes victory over sin and death and the promise of eternal life through Jesus. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we who believe in Him carry the hope of life with Him. And that’s something worth celebrating! 

Important Days in the Easter Season 

The Easter season isn’t just a single day—it’s a meaningful journey leading up to Resurrection Sunday. The season begins with Ash Wednesday, moves through Lent, and culminates in Holy Week. While not everyone observes every moment of this season, what matters most is keeping our hearts focused on the reason we celebrate: Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.

Important days leading up to Easter: 

• Ash Wednesday falls 46 days before Easter. It marks the beginning of Lent with a call to repentance, reflection and spiritual renewal.

• Lent (40 Days, not including Sundays) is a season of fasting and prayer that mirrors Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and prepares believers for Easter.

• Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week–the week before Easter–and celebrates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where crowds welcomed Him with palm branches.

• Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and instituted Communion.

• Good Friday is a solemn day when Christians remember Jesus’ crucifixion and His sacrifice for our redemption.

• Holy Saturday falls on the day before Easter Sunday. It is traditionally a quiet day of waiting and reflection, symbolizing the time Jesus lay in the tomb before His resurrection.

• Easter Sunday is the joyful celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, symbolizing victory over sin and the promise of eternal life. 

Common Easter Symbols and Traditions

As with most holidays, people around the world celebrate Easter in different ways. For many, it’s a day to spend with family and participate in unique traditions. 

For Christians like you and me, attending church services on Easter Sunday is the heart of the holiday.  Church services are a time to honor the resurrection of Jesus. Churches celebrate Easter in different ways, from Orthodox traditions to sunrise services and dramatic retellings of the gospel story. During these services, lighting candles is often part of the experience, symbolizing Christ’s triumph over darkness. I remember the church I attended as a child pulled out all the stops on Easter, from special songs to dramatizations of Jesus’ resurrection. 

Beyond the sanctuary, Easter spills over into colorful customs shared with family and friends. Children eagerly take part in Easter egg hunts, searching for hidden treasures like candy, small toys or brightly decorated eggs. Decorating eggs is another favorite tradition, with families gathering to dye or paint them in festive colors. These eggs, ancient symbols of new life, remind us of the Resurrection and the promise of renewal.

Many children wake up to find Easter baskets filled with treats and surprises. Some families also exchange small gifts with loved ones. In some regions, people decorate Easter bonnets with flowers and ribbons.

Families often celebrate the holiday with a special meal, gathering around foods like ham, lamb, or Easter bread, like hot cross buns. Lamb, in particular, carries deep symbolic meaning to those of us who follow Christ, representing Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Some families plant Easter flowers—like lilies, tulips, or daffodils—as a living reminder of life, growth and new beginnings reflected in both springtime and the Easter holiday. 

All of these symbols and traditions remind us that this is truly a day for celebration. They all point to the meaning of Easter.

Celebrating Easter 

Growing up in a church-going family, I look back on my family’s Easter traditions with gratitude. I remember making a mess with my mother and sister at the kitchen table as we dyed and painted hard-boiled eggs. I recall getting lost in pastel fabric as we shopped for new Easter dresses. Some of my favorite memories involve hunting for eggs with my cousins in my grandfather’s yard, each of us vying for the one with the best prize inside. But most of all, I remember attending Easter church services. 

Even my friends who didn’t attend church regularly often came on Easter Sunday. These services are sacred moments to honor the cornerstone of our faith. For those who don’t follow Jesus, it’s a chance to hear the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection—perhaps for the first time.

This is why many Christians use Easter to share the gospel with their friends and loved ones who do not yet follow Jesus–and with good reason! The holiday provides a wonderful opportunity to invite those you know to celebrate and observe Easter traditions while focusing on the true reason behind them. It’s the perfect chance to share the hope we have in Christ with those who still need Him. 

What better time to share our faith than on this day when we remember and celebrate Christ’s resurrection? 

Sharing Your Faith This Easter

The fact that Jesus defeated death and gives us new life in Him is our living hope as Christians. And we are called to proclaim this hope to the world. In fact, the last thing Jesus told His followers before he ascended into heaven was to: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, NIV) 

Fulfilling this Great Commission starts with sharing the gospel. While that may sound intimidating if you have never done it, it doesn’t need to be. There are so many incredible resources that can help you get started. 

The True Story of Easter for Kids: Beyond Eggs and Bunnies 

There are countless resources explaining Easter, its meaning, its origins and the ways people celebrate. This video series provides a kid-friendly explanation of Easter that can be shared with anyone. As you watch each of these short videos, consider how they might be helpful to those looking to dive into Easter’s deeper meaning. 

The Origins of Easter 

When we think about the meaning of Easter, our minds may turn to bunnies, eggs and lots of chocolate! But Easter is really a worldwide Christian festival, as important to Christians as Christmas. So what are Christians actually celebrating on Easter? 

This episode explores the origins of Easter by going back to the very beginning and discovering Jesus’ mission in coming to Earth. It illustrates to the true Christian meaning of Easter.

The Story of Good Friday

“It’s not fair!” are words we’re all familiar with. We want fairness and justice. But possibly the most unfair thing ever to have happened took place on the very first Easter. Jesus was innocent; His friends and even His opponents knew that full well. And yet, Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion—a terrible punishment. 

This episode explores Jesus’s trial for crimes He hadn’t committed and how it all ties into God’s plan to rescue the world from sin. 

The Meaning of The Resurrection

Jesus was dead and buried in a tomb. An enormous stone and Roman soldiers guarded the entrance. But when some of His followers visited the tomb one early morning, something astonishing unfolded. The stone was rolled away, the soldiers gone; an earthquake, angels, and an amazing message! Not everyone likes surprises, but for Christians, this surprise at the heart of Easter is the best news the world has ever heard!

This final episode of the series explores the resurrection of Jesus and the hope that it brings Christians today.

Resources to Help You Share Your Faith This Easter

If you aren’t sure where or how to start telling others about Jesus this Easter, I encourage you to begin by reading up on sharing your faith. This blog is a great starting point. 

You can also check out our collection of Easter-themed short films and videos. These videos, many of which are available in different languages, are meant to help you start and guide conversations about your faith and all link back to the topic of Jesus’ resurrection. 

Did Jesus Defeat Death? is one of our newest short video series, and it centers around the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. The three-part series goes hand-in-hand with the Easter holiday and is available in multiple languages, making it easy to share with someone who doesn’t speak English. 

I pray that wherever you are this Easter, your heart will be filled with joy and gratitude. Jesus is alive, and through Him, we are made new. His resurrection gives us hope both in and beyond this life, and that’s worth celebrating.

I’m not a singer, but I do enjoy singing with family and friends occasionally. When my brother-in-law, Nick, has a guitar handy, our singing sessions tend to go more smoothly. A few subtle bumps on the wooden surface of the guitar, and Nick softly uttering “1, 2, 3…” clue me in to the start of the song and when I need to jump in. 

When we’re recording to share with others later, that’s often flipped to Nick’s bumps on the guitar and a “3, 2, 1…” The numbers keep me focused and centered, unaware of the unnerving presence of those watching and not singing with me. We tap record and after being “counted in,” we are off to the races. The song begins.

If we look closely, we’ll find that the Bible, people around us and God Himself (through the Holy Spirit) can “count us in” to living missionally. We can know where to start and where to find inspiration when it feels like the whole world––or at least our world––is watching. 

The History of Missional Living 

To understand “missional living,” we have to start with the word “missions.” 

According to David Bosch’s Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, we owe the popularity of the word “missions” to missio dei, a term that took off like wildfire in the 1950s. In Latin, missio dei is “the sending of God,” referring to how God sends His people out to share the gospel. The term existed before the 1950s but took on new meaning after this decade.

You may have heard of famous missionaries like Jim Elliot and his wife Elisabeth Elliot, who helped evangelize the Waorani tribe in Ecuador. Though there were hundreds, if not thousands, of missionaries before them, the Elliots and their tragic story of martyrdom kicked off a new passion for taking the gospel beyond America’s borders to places it had never been before. 

Missions was the term coined, particularly in the United States and the West, for any effort made toward fervently spreading the gospel abroad, whether that effort was carried out by believers called to far-off lands or the local church giving to a missionary cause. 

That wave marked the start of a movement that would persist into the 1980s. Soon after came the concept of short-term mission trips. You and I could embark on brief experiences to help spread the gospel somewhere else in the world, but be back home in a matter of days or weeks. 

Short-term mission trips split my world in two: the one where I lived my life (at work or school) and the one where I went to church, talked about Jesus and shone the light of the gospel. These worlds would likely never collide unless I intentionally brought them together. 

For many church leaders, that separation between our everyday life and sharing our faith presented a detrimental barrier. How would the people in the places where we spent most of our time get to know Jesus when it seemed sharing the message of the gospel was reserved for missions trips and missionaries?

The Difference Between Missions and Missional Living

When it sprang up in 1998, the missional church movement––which had advocates like prominent American pastor Tim Keller––challenged the idea that missions was something we traveled to do, or that it required that we leave the rhythms of our lives for it to make its maximum impact. 

Missions had historically been the work of a professional missionary or something Christians set out to do in a carefully selected place. Missional living invites all Christians to be involved in Jesus’ Great Commission wherever they find themselves, regardless of their chosen profession. 

What Is Missional Living?

At its core, missional living challenges us to represent the gospel in the places we regularly frequent––work, school, the coffee shop, the supermarket, our child’s daycare program, the homes of our family and friends. 

Simply put, if missions is about proclaiming the kingdom of God throughout the world, missional living takes proclaiming the gospel into our own worlds––into our communities. We carry the mission into our spheres of life and into our spheres of influence. We model Christlikeness there and share the gospel there. 

Missional living and the Great Commission

Missional living makes the call of the Great Commission a lifestyle because it means Jesus’ mandate applies to our whole life as believers. 

When I reexamine the Great Commission through this different lens, who I think of when I read the words “all nations” and where I think of when I read “go” radically changes. It becomes local as well as global.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. …” (Matthew 28:19-20).

To be clear, missions, mission trips and giving to missionaries on the mission field are surefire ways to be aligned to the work God is doing in hearts everywhere. We shouldn’t abandon these practices! Most giving opportunities at Jesus Film Project^® fuel the work of missionaries globally. 

Missional living is merely another way we worship God with our lives and participate in His mission without limitation.

How to Live Missionally

Missional living and discipleship

Notice I haven’t used the word evangelism here. That’s because when we focus on making disciples in our daily walk, not on evangelism, we more organically begin to demonstrate what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus. 

Thought leader Alan Hirsch says, “Evangelism can’t be our focus! We must not stop sharing the good news, but here’s the deal, here’s the wonderful thing, it gets done along the way as you do discipleship.” 

Discipleship in our missional living means allowing God to visibly transform us so that we bear good fruit before others. In other words, we disciple well by bearing fruit and taking the time to express not just the message of Jesus but how it translates to a changed life, starting with ours. 

Consider this: “In John 15, Jesus talks about producing fruit that remains. What is this type of ‘fruit’ that Jesus is referring to? Spiritually fruitful people are fully surrendered to Christ and express love for Him over a lifetime by making disciples” (Missional Living).

See John 15:7-8: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Jesus said that to produce fruit we must remain in Him. To this end, we cannot live missionally without time in the presence of Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit, which must be at work in our lives and in our hearts. 

How do we live missionally? We live missionally when we share every part of us, including our ever-evolving walk with Christ and how He changed us and continues to change us to be more like Him through trials and challenging relationships. 

According to theologian Darrell Guder, “We experience the transforming truth of Christ and bring it to everything we do. The Great Commission is not merely about spreading the gospel in words, it is about embodying the gospel message—its hope for transformational renewal.” 

Why do we need to live missionally?

The purpose of living missionally is to be extensions of Jesus’ life-changing love, mercy, grace and forgiveness toward others. And this modeling of Jesus is the very keystone of missional living. 

But at the end of the day, our greatest desire should be to express the message of salvation through Christ alone. Eventually, the Holy Spirit grants us opportunities to talk about Jesus with those with whom we’ve modeled His example. We should take advantage of these opportunities.

The purpose of missional living is to share the message of the gospel in both action and speech. We communicate what we believe and why. We demonstrate these beliefs with our lives. We are vocal witnesses to Jesus’ timeless message. 

Missional living and sharing your faith

If the idea of talking to others about Jesus scares you, know that you’re not alone. 

We asked more than 1,600 Christians why they don’t share Jesus with others. Approximately 22% of people said fear keeps them from sharing their faith. Studies found that most Christians don’t start spiritual conversations because they are afraid of making Christianity look bad or because they lack the faith to do it.

It’s completely normal to be fearful about taking this next step. Jumping into anything that seems to involve our entire lives is sure to give us pause. But the truth is, because of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, all we need is a nudge of inspiration, a “3, 2, 1…”

3 Mindset Shifts to Help Encourage Missional Living

If missional living seems like a lot to take on and you’re feeling the pressure, here’s some encouragement: Adapting a mindset of missional living takes time. 

We can start taking steps toward living missionally by changing our mindset in three ways.

2 Quotes About Living Missionally 

Missional living is a joy, not a burden

In his book, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, British theologian Lesslie Newbigin made this insightful observation:

Did you catch that? Missional living begins with an explosion of joy! Living life on a mission isn’t a burden because it allows us to express the victory of Jesus on the cross with our very lives. And this expression of joy about our salvation is life-giving.

What is truly necessary

Missional thought leader Alan Hirsch has this to say about the one thing it takes to live missionally. 

A passionate faith and pursuit of Jesus sets us ablaze and helps us burn for missional living.

1 Small Step Toward Missional Living

We can reframe our disposition toward missional living.

As I serve at Jesus Film Project, I often have the opportunity to hear team members talk about their fresh opportunities to equip believers with ministry resources. Many of my team members start these conversations with the words, “We get to participate with God in…” 

Their perspective regularly reminds me that God invites us to take part in the Great Commission, and it’s no small invitation. We get to participate with God as he carries out His mission! 

We are His chosen ambassadors. In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Paul tells the Corinthian church––our models for modern churchhood––to act as Christ’s ambassadors and share His message of reconciliation. If God deems me appropriate for the task, I have no choice but to believe Him and participate in what He’s doing by offering my life. 

3 Stories To Inspire a Missional Life

Believers around the world are living a missional life. We are so honored they chose to share their stories with us. As you watch the videos, be sure to reflect on how these believers heard about Jesus or shared Jesus in spaces that easily integrated into their daily lives, using the tools already at their disposal.

Malee’s Story

Malee discovered Jesus online. She was scrolling through Facebook when she spotted a video someone had posted of Jesus speaking her language. That prompted questions in Malee’s heart that Din was willing to answer.

Notice the simple question Malee answers at the beginning to kick off her sharing her story: “What has Jesus done in your life?” Imagine answering that question in the company of someone who doesn’t know Jesus yet. It could make an enormous difference. That alone can be the spark to a deep conversation. 

Jacob’s Story

In this quick story, Jacob talks about how sharing a video from the Jesus Film Project app, which he often does, caused an Iraqi man he had only briefly crossed paths with to eventually come to faith in Christ. Jacob’s simple act of love toward a stranger drew that man closer to God. All Jacob had to do was be willing to share a piece of Christ’s message in a way that was natural to him––an app on his phone.

Amir’s Story

Amir’s story highlights the power of Christian community in public spaces and in using contextualized media resources to share the message of the gospel wherever you find yourself. Jesus Film Project short films and tools, which are available in several languages, are a great way to share your faith. 

2 Bible Passages to Inspire a Life on Mission

Colossians 4:2-6: Pray, Live, Speak 

Are the words “missional living” in the Bible? No, they’re not. But check out the three directives the apostle Paul shares in Colossians 4:2-6. They are remarkably missional.

You can dive deeper into this three-part passage in Colossians in What is the Missional Life?  from the church-planting ministry 9Marks. 

1 Thessalonians 2:8: Love in Everything

Paul and other great church fathers operated in love. Take a look at his words to the Thessalonians: “…Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV).

They were delighted to share the gospel and their lives! Note that the motivator of this response wasn’t guilt. Like Paul, we are compelled to share the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16), but we should let it stem from love, because of the love Jesus showed us (John 3:16).

Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees also comes to mind. They ask him, “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replies: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:36-39, NIV).

If you need fresh reminders of why to live missionally, look no further than Scripture. The Bible is full of Bible verses that can empower you for missional living. There are also plenty of passages about missions and missionary work. 

1 Leap to Living Missionally Every Day

Wondering whether you’re living missionally? Think about acquaintances, your closest friends, or family members who don’t know Jesus. Do they know what you believe and how that belief informs and inspires how you live your life?

If the answer is no, you may be missing out on valuable opportunities to live missionally.

Opportunities to live missionally are all around us. We just need to allow our lives to serve as doorways to others meeting Jesus. We need to be open to jumping into every opportunity and let the songs of our lives play freely.

Today, the JESUS film is the most translated film in the world. And by God’s grace, Jesus Film Project has accomplished another astounding milestone: the film’s 2,200th translation in Kulango, Bouna—a language spoken in Côte d’Ivoire.

This mission to share the gospel with the world through film was a vision my father deeply believed in and dedicated his life to fulfilling. Just as the Shepherd leaves the 99 to search for the one lost sheep (Matthew 18:12), my father believed everyone deserved to hear about Jesus in a way that speaks directly to their hearts. 

That dedication shaped not only the JESUS film, but also the trajectory of my own life and faith.

Why Numbers Matter in Sharing the Gospel  

My father loved two things in equal measure: statistics and stories. Numbers mattered to him because they represented people—real individuals with the opportunity to hear about Jesus for the first time. He quoted populations and language details off the top of his head, but it wasn’t about the data alone. He lived and breathed for the stories: lives changed, faith renewed, and people encountering Jesus for the first time. 

Matthew 24:14 shaped my father’s legacy: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (New International Version). 

He often shared this favorite verse as a reminder to reach every lost lamb in every unengaged and unreached people group, ensuring everyone had the opportunity to know Jesus.

Jesus Speaks My Language

The heart of the JESUS film lies in its meticulous attention to cultural and linguistic detail. My father believed that hearing Jesus speak your heart language communicates something profound: Jesus sees and knows you.

Many of the stories in my father’s book, I Just Saw JESUS, perfectly capture this. For so many who have never before heard the gospel in their language, it’s not just a movie—it’s an encounter with Jesus. 

I share two such stories at the end of this blog.

The Ongoing Mission to Reach the Unreached with JESUS

As we celebrate the 2,200th language of the JESUS film, it’s clear that the mission is far from over. My father often carried lists of unreached people groups, asking, “Who are we missing? How can we reach them?” He believed deeply in the urgency of the Great Commission and often reminded us that every person matters to God.

In honor of my father, I’d like to share a couple of stories—excerpts from his recently re-released book I Just Saw JESUS. These stories are glimpses into the way God has used this film to impact the world.

Missionary Story from I Just Saw JESUS: The Tarahumaras 

In the hillside clearing, two hundred men, women, and children sat silently watching JESUS, the only film in the world translated into the Tarahumara language. It had taken months of work and $20,000 to complete the project.

The voice of the narrator belonged to Eduardo Lopes. Eduardo, born and raised in the village of Samachique, was no stranger to translation work. In 1942 his father, Ramon, began working with Wycliffe^Ⓡ missionary Kenneth Hilton on a translation of the New Testament. Thirty years later, through the tireless labor of Hilton, the first Tarahumara New Testament was printed—but it received a cool reception. Ramon and a few others had accepted Christ, but in a total population of 75,000, Christians numbered less than 100.  

In 1975, two years after the New Testaments arrived, deteriorating health forced Hilton to leave the tribe. Nearly ten years later Eric and Terri Powell, field staff members with the Navajo Gospel Mission, initiated the Tarahumara film production based on Hilton’s work. Jim Bowman, a businessman with film background from Tucson, Arizona, traveled to Samachique in August 1984 and recorded the narration track with Eduardo and Ramon, promising to return with the completed film and a team to show it in the mountain villages. 

Ramon was skeptical. He had pastored the local church for many years and seen North Americans come and go. Most of their promises of help and materials had not been kept, and when eight silent months passed after he and his son recorded the soundtrack, he began to believe the JESUS film would never reach their village. When the film team finally did arrive in Samachique, Ramon was distant and reserved.

Now as the crowd watched the film under the star-filled Mexican sky, team members scanned the faces, looking for responses. The people were visibly shaken by the cruelty and pain they witnessed as Jesus was put to death on the cross. One man became physically ill. The burial scenes seemed to impress them, and the team learned later that the Tarahumara fear death deeply, sending their dead to the afterlife with days of elaborate ceremonies. They saw many similarities between their burial customs and the Jewish ways in Jesus’ time.

When the film ended, Ramon asked those interested in knowing more about Jesus to come to the lights stretched across the front of the film site. Christians in the group were praying for those they knew needed Christ, but no one came. Finally, deeply disappointed that no one responded to the message, Ramon watched as the crowd wandered off into the darkness.

Everyone left except a few who clustered around the fires the team built on the edges of the clearing. Twenty-five or 30 Tarahumaras warmed themselves in small groups, talking quietly, as if waiting for something. All of the Christians—those who spoke Tarahumara—left, and team members were forced to speak with the seekers in Spanish. Only a few teenaged boys understood any Spanish, but they stayed, asking questions.

Why had the people not come to the lights when Ramon invited them? It later became very clear that the invitation made them feel singled out. In their culture the only time a person is set apart from the group is for punishment or tribal ostracism. The team adjusted and after other showings of the film, asked people to stay afterward around the fires or to raise their hands if they wanted to know more about receiving Christ.

In the four days they spent with the Tarahumaras, more than 800 viewed the film, with an estimated 95 percent never having heard the gospel before. More than 80 responded to the message.

During the day the people returned to talk with the team about spiritual things. One young man who watched the film said he had not slept all night—he did not know what to do with Jesus. Others asked where the people came from who killed Jesus, and one wanted answers about the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Jim Bowman asked him about the sacrifices he made.

“I must offer goats and chickens to Onoruame so that my crops will not fail and God will not be angry with me,” he said. 

“That’s what Jesus has done for us,” Jim said. “He was the last sacrifice needed for all men, for all time.”

The young man nodded, and a smile spread across his face. “I understand,” he said. “For the first time I understand what Jesus did for us.”

In Choquita, a Spanish-speaking Mexican missionary hosted a showing of the film and was thrilled to see the Tarahumaras he had been trying to communicate with understanding and responding to the message. Ten men raised their hands, indicating they were asking God to forgive their sins.

With each day’s showing of the film, Ramon and the other Christians grew more encouraged. The film opened avenues of distribution for the Tarahumara New Testaments. The foundation laid by Kenneth and Martha Hilton’s sacrificial work now bore new fruit. A few of the older men and many of the young men could read, and JESUS caused questions and created an interest in them that had not existed before. By the time the team packed up their gear and headed homeward, Ramon was making plans for more showings of the JESUS film in other Tarahumara villages.

Missionary Story from I Just Saw JESUS: The Garifunas

It was late, and the moon hung low and bright over the Caribbean as we struggled against the waves threatening to capsize our dugout canoe. Warm winds blew hard through the palms on shore, churning the sea to a tempest while the thirty-five-horsepower outboard strained to pull us through. Several inches of water sloshed around us and our equipment, and I watched the two native boys bail it back over the side as fast as their young arms could manage. There were no oars and no life jackets, and I prayed earnestly that God would get us to shore.

We were headed along the coast of Honduras with missionary David Dickson, bound for a Garifuna village where the gospel had never been shared. JESUS was scheduled to be screened for hundreds of Black Caribs in the language of the Garifuna Indians, and we did not plan to disappoint them. Finally, we headed the canoe toward shore and soon unloaded on an isolated beach.

In a tropical paradise that stretches along the coast of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Nicaragua, 100,000 Black Caribs coax their livelihood from the sea as fishermen. Descendants of nineteenth-century black Africans who escaped from slave ships and settled with the Carib Indians, they have been almost overlooked by those with the good news—but not quite. In 1955 a young Wycliffe translator named Lillian Howland went to Central America to begin translation work on the New Testament. Thirty years later she completed the translation, but few Garifunas responded to the gospel. David Dickson heard that she mastered the language and began to study it under her tutelage. He now is the only white man to speak it fluently. As he learned the language, his burden to reach the Garifunas increased. He saw the JESUS film as an opportunity to spread the message quickly.

Not long after, David and two Garifunas left the palm-lined beaches and jungles of Honduras and flew to San Bernardino, California, to dub the film into their language. A few months later our team returned with the film ready to be shown to the Black Caribs.

In one scene Jesus greets a small child with a greeting known only to these people. “What are you doing?” Jesus’ Garifuna voice says. 

“Nothing,” the child responds, and the Black Carib audiences break into applause and delighted laughter.

“This man knows Garifuna!” someone says. “He speaks our language. He knows our greeting!”

As the film progressed, Dickson moved among the crowd of two hundred chattering people to hear what they said about the film. When Jesus healed someone, comments like “Look at that! Can you believe that!” were heard.

One woman said to her friend, “Who wouldn’t believe in Jesus? Did you see Him heal that blind man? Anyone would want to believe in Him.”

The Garifunas were especially pleased with scenes that involved the sea and the fisherman’s way of life. They loved watching Peter and the disciples haul straining nets filled with fish into their boats. When Jesus spoke to the winds and calmed the sea, everyone in the audience related to what they saw because all of them had lost family and friends who drowned in angry storms at sea.

They talked throughout the entire film, but the message got through. After the showing, fifteen men and twenty women gathered under the lights to make decisions to trust Christ. On the final evening, the team showed the film in a large village to a crowd of eighteen hundred Garifunas. 

Everyone came—drunks, unruly children, even witch doctors performing incantations as the film showed. The Spirit of God is strong enough to meet any challenge, and that night one hundred fifty-five made decisions for Christ.

The need is there—an insatiable hunger for the God of love. Through the film JESUS, the message is being told and understood. On our three-day trip to the Garifunas, two hundred prayed to receive Christ. Churches are being established, disciples are being made, and their faith is being built up.

 “Come back,” a Garifuna village chief said. “You must come back again and tell us more about Christ.”

The Garifuna and the Tarahumara Indians have been called “unreached people.” However, the JESUS film may be the key to reaching them and thousands of other groups like them around the world.

Join the Mission

It’s an honor to carry on my father’s legacy, sharing stories of how God continues to move through this incredible project. And as you read these stories—whether from Côte d’Ivoire, the Garifuna people, or beyond—I hope you were inspired to be part of this mission, sharing the message of Jesus with those who still haven’t heard.

You can read more of my dad’s story in I Just Saw JESUS, available now on Amazon. 

Learn more about the 2,200th translation of JESUS and why it’s significant in the latest news release on our website. You can download the full story here.

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