Picture the scene: Jesus is on a mountain with the disciples. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’” (Matthew 28:18-19a, ESV). 

When you pictured that scene, did you picture yourself there on the mountain receiving those words? 

When it comes to evangelizing, making disciples and sharing the love of Jesus, it is often easier to picture someone else doing it. Jesus said those words to them. Jesus calls them to do that. Jesus has gifted them for that. However, this instruction to spread the gospel and evangelize the truth is for everyone who has come to know Jesus. While we can’t escape it,  we also don’t have to overcomplicate it. Evangelizing is simple, but we must be intentional about it. 

It Starts With You

The greatest act of evangelism is an authentic relationship with Jesus. So much of the world we see is filtered, and still, everyone tries to peel back the layers to see the raw authenticity behind the lens. People know when something is faked, including our relationships. A fake relationship with Jesus will convince no one that they should follow Him. Evangelism starts with our own hearts. If your heart is not in the right place, then evangelism won’t work. You’re selling a fake gospel, and if it hasn’t convinced you, it won’t convince those around you. 

To demonstrate the love of Jesus, we must live it out authentically in the everyday, unfiltered, raw moments of our lives. 

People are curious. We spend hours watching other people—watching them as they sit and wait in an airport, as they pass by us at the store and as they scroll past on our screens. Just as we are watching people, people are also watching us. If you were to rewatch your life from the past 24 hours, what type of person would you describe yourself as? In the raw, unfiltered moments of the day, when you think no one is paying attention, does your relationship with Jesus show? 

Evangelism is often portrayed as the guy on the street corner shouting into a microphone or the devout religious person knocking on doors. But it’s the daily moments in the lives of Christians that reenforce the teachings of Jesus and show people the love of God lived out. Jesus said, “Go and make disciple of all nations” (Matthew 28:19, NIV). In the comings and goings of your life, are people seeing the love of God in a way that makes them curious about it? 

Evangelism doesn’t have to be hard. Whether we are meeting our friends somewhere, ordering a cup of coffee or playing video games, there are opportunities for evangelism. People are watching and listening, and we have something that they need that comes out in our daily interactions. But if we are not intentional, then we miss the opportunities. Most things don’t just happen. People don’t just get rich, lose weight or graduate from college. Instead, they work towards those things. They fixate on the goal and take steps—often small steps—to get them to their desired outcome. Telling people about Jesus doesn’t just happen. If we want others to know what we know, we have to be intentional about conveying it. 

How To Be Intentional With Your Evangelism

How can you be intentional in your relationship with Jesus so that others may come to know Him? 

Some examples of simple yet intentional Christian practices are: praying before meals, talking about the things that God is showing you, intentionally thanking God for blessings and showing compassion to strangers. 

Jesus had organized moments of teaching, but His many impromptu interactions, recorded in Scripture, showed His great love in scenarios that many of us would deem inconvenient. Luke 8:43-48 paints a picture of Jesus on His way through a crowd when a woman touches His garment. Jesus stops to show great compassion to this stranger. So often, we get inconvenienced by people pausing us in the middle of what we’re doing, like going to visit someone, shopping, ordering coffee, etc. When we see people as an inconvenience, we miss opportunities to show great compassion and to share the love of God. No one comes to know Jesus when we ignore them. They may not come to know Him when we serve them at that moment. But it’s our responsibility to be in the middle. To demonstrate love in the raw, and often inconvenient, moments of our day, in hopes that God will do great things. 

An authentic relationship with Jesus lived out in everyday moments creates opportunities to show people the God who loves them immensely and unconditionally, without limit.

This article was originally titled “Walking The Talk” in the October 2024 issue of Peer.