A few weeks ago, I suggested that evangelism can be as simple as “Just Walk Across the Yard.”
In many ways, that simple idea was the genesis of Multipli.
But if I can be forthright, not much is likely to happen—for you or for the people you lead and influence—without a shift:
From a passive heart toward unbelievers to a passionate one.
Passivity feels safe. It’s also evangelistically silent.
This is one of the important shifts Multipli’s training is designed to create.
I keep coming back to a moment in Luke 19. Jesus is approaching Jerusalem—the city that in just days will reject and crucify Him—and Scripture says He wept over it.
He didn’t lecture it.
He didn’t strategize about it.
He wept.
After years of walking alongside Christians who want to share their faith but feel stuck, I’ve come to believe this: You can give someone a great mindset and a strong skillset, but without a changed heart, not much happens.
Jesus looked at people with compassion.
And when our hearts begin to reflect His heart, sharing the Good News becomes much more natural.
GENESIS LEADER
Genesis Leader is designed to develop both the heart and the habits of Christians who want to live more intentionally with people who don’t yet know Jesus. New cohorts begin this week and again November 1.
My Mom
My mom was a great woman of faith. She loved Jesus, and she had an enormous influence on me.
For many years, before sight-restoring surgery in her 60s, my mom was legally blind. She loved and memorized the Bible.
And she had a passionate heart for people who didn’t know Jesus.
I was the youngest of five children. For a season, pairs of young men in white shirts and ties regularly appeared in our neighborhood—and at our front door.
Once they were spotted, what happened next was predictable.
My older siblings scattered.
My mom would say, “Oh good, they’re here!”
And apparently because I was either too young or too slow, I often found myself trapped in the living room for the conversation!
Mom would invite them in and offer coffee. With well-memorized steps, she would make her way to the kitchen and return with hot water, instant coffee, and cups on a tray.
She could barely see.
But her smile was disarming. Her hospitality was genuine. And her purpose was clear.
Eventually, the young men would begin their presentation. Inevitably they would arrive at John 1 and read from their translation that the Word—Jesus—was “a god.”
Mom would smile and say something like:
“That’s not what the Bible actually says.”
Then she would hand them her well-worn King James Bible and ask them to read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
—John 1:1
There’s something powerful about hearing yourself read the Word of God out loud!
Then she would ask them to continue to verse 14:
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”
—John 1:14
And Mom would bring the conversation back to Jesus.
Jesus is God.
Jesus became human.
Jesus came as Savior.
And His gift of salvation is received through faith.
These conversations happened again and again.
Sometimes the two young men would return with others—even those who had trained them. And there would be my nearly blind mom, sitting with her well-worn Bible, talking about Jesus.
And Then There Was One
Years later, a not-so-young man knocked on the door and asked if “the lady of the house” was home.
Mom welcomed him in.
He explained that he had visited years earlier. During one of those conversations, she had introduced him to Jesus in a way he had never understood before.
That conversation began a journey.
The Spirit worked. He came to believe in Jesus!
Now he had returned for one reason:
To say thank you.
I love that story.
My mom’s relational world during those years of blindness and raising children was pretty small.
But God literally brought people to her front door.
And because she had a passionate heart for people who didn’t know Jesus, she saw an opportunity where others might have seen an interruption.
What About Us?
That’s the difference between a passive heart and a passionate one.
Passivity feels safe. It’s also evangelistically silent.
What might happen if hundreds—then thousands, even 10,000—everyday Christians began making this shift?
Not waiting for the next big evangelistic event.
Not leaving it to the professionals.
But asking God to give us His heart for the people He has already placed around us.
That’s one of the shifts Multipli is working to create.
Awaken can begin that shift in your congregation.
Genesis Leader takes it deeper—building the heart, habits, skills, and confidence to live this way over time.
Have questions about bringing Awaken to your church? Nate would love to talk with you.
Interested in the Genesis Leader? Erin can help you take the next step.
And I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions Email me here.