Social Media is full of challenges. Years ago there was the #IceBucketChallenge that was used to raise awareness about ALS. It was an internet sensation that was wildly successful. More recently there was the #75Hard Challenge that calls couch potatoes to get up, eat well and work out intensely twice a day for 45 minutes (one of the workouts has to be outside!) I have friends taking this physical challenge who are seeing amazing results.
Last year my good friend Dave Gibson and I were talking about starting such a challenge when it comes to sharing the Gospel. Dave is the missions pastor at Grace Church in Eden Prairie and is the best one-on-one relational evangelist I have ever been around. He takes virtually every conversation and lovingly, yet gently, makes a beeline for the cross. I’ve been with him in countless situations where he has done this and have been blown away (and convicted) by his faithful witness.
He’s also the Leader of the Go Movement in North America. The Go Movement is a faith-sharing movement that started out of Europe ten years ago that has been wildly successful. Tens of millions of Christians have been challenged and equipped to share the Gospel on “Go Day“, the last Saturday of May. Hundreds of millions of Gospel conversations have flowed out of this movement. Only heaven knows the impact of the Go Movement…but I guarantee you, it’s HUGE!
So last April, as Dave and I were talking about Go Month, we challenged each other to have at least one Gospel conversation every single day in May. We initially called it “One-A-Day-in-May.” We both took the challenge and challenged a handful of others, including Werner Nachtigal, the founder of the Go Movement, Chuck Klein, the leader of the Campus Alliance and others.
It was a blast! Chuck Klein had almost a hundred Gospel conversations last May by simply going out everyday to ask people two questions: 1) How are you holding up during the pandemic? 2) How can I be praying for you? These two questions inevitably led to easy-to-begin Gospel conversations.
The One-a-Day-in-May challenge was simple, organic and impactful. It caught on with a handful of us and really helped us be aware of the lost people who are around us everyday and who desperately need the hope of Jesus.
This year we got a little more intentional about the movement. A small group of ten of us are taking the challenge again and challenging ten others to join us. But we are also challenging them to take the challenge and challenge ten others. After 5 generations that would mean one million believers around the world sharing Jesus everyday in the month of May. We have slightly renamed the challenge to this:
The #OneADayChallenge
Would you be willing to take it and challenge ten others to take it? Starting tomorrow May 1st, would you seek to have one Gospel conversation per day until the end of May. And, if you happen to read this blog on May 15th or June 20th or September 19th, don’t worry about it! Just take the challenge for 30 days straight! And, when you do, use the hashtag #OneADayChallenge!
Here are a couple of suggestions to help you get started:
- Pray for BOB everyday.
My buddy Dave Gibson prays for BOB daily. He prays, “God give me a Burden for the lost, Opportunity to share with them and Boldness to take that opportunity when it comes.” The Apostle Paul put it this way, “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. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Colossians 4:2-4
2. Go to where the fish are.
I’m not much of a fisherman but I know this, if you want to catch fish then you need to go to where they are. Jesus said this in Matthew 4:19, “Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.” This may mean going on a daily walk, drinking your coffee in a coffee shop or taking an Uber to work (so that you can talk to the driver.) But it means you must get out of the house and engage with others.
3. Choose your faith sharing tool.
There are tons of faith sharing tools out there. There’s The Four, 3 Circles, The Roman’s Road and many others. Pick a faith sharing tool and go for it! The method you use doesn’t matter nearly as much as the message you share. I don’t go into a steak restaurant for the plate. I go for the steak. But I want it served on a clean plate. The Gospel is the steak that must be presented. The plate is the method through which we present it. Choose your plate and serve the steak.
At Dare 2 Share, the ministry I founded 30 years ago, we highly recommend the Life in 6 Words app. Almost 40,000 have downloaded it in the last 18 months and tens of thousands are being impacted by the Good News of Jesus as a result! You simply ask someone, “If you were to describe your life in 6 words what would they be?” And they choose 6 words out of a list of 14 that would best describe their lives. Then you ask them why they chose those words and they share their story. Then you share the 6 words that best describe your life, sharing your personal testimony in the process. Finally, you share 6 words from the Bible that tell the GOSPEL story:
GOD created us to be with him.
OUR sins separate us from God.
SINS cannot be removed by good deeds.
PAYING the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.
EVERYONE who trusts in him alone has eternal life.
LIFE with Jesus starts now and lasts forever.
If you can swipe and read then you can share the Gospel using the Life in 6 Words app. I’ve used it hundreds of times and have never been turned down to engage someone in a Gospel conversation. Not once. I simply start talking with someone and, after a few minutes, I’ll say, “Hey can I show you this cool app called Life in 6 Words?” then, I open up the app and get started. Here’s a quick overview of how the app works:
Download the app in your App Store (it’s free) and go for it!
But, whether you use the Life in 6 Words app, The Four, 3 Circles or something else, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you share the Gospel lovingly, clearly and boldly!
Will you take the #OneADayChallenge in May (or whenever you read this)? Go for a full month of faith sharing the Good News of Jesus and watch how it will strengthen your faith, soften your heart and open your eyes.
I’m taking it again this May. I’ve challenged ten others to take it with me. And now I’m challenging you to take it.
For more information go to the Go Movement One A Day Page.
Until Every Teen Hears the Gospel from a Friend,
Greg Stier
