Welcome to part two of a series of blog posts designed to help you share your faith and take steps toward making disciples of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life. If you missed “Step 1”, go back and read it here.

STEP #2: Think “intentional” rather than “additional”

Let’s face it. We dwell in a society with a cultural attention deficit disorder that results in lives of hyperactivity. Margin in our schedule is on the endangered species list. Unfortunately, church leadership in America has often perpetuated this problem by creating a busy sub-culture of “Christian” activities that further remove the people of God from meaningful contact with unbelievers. Living a disciple-making lifestyle may compel us to slow down and leave margin in our schedule, but it definitely does not demand that we add more to it. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He said, “go and make disciples.” The imperative in this phrase is not the word “go,” but rather “make disciples.” In fact, Jesus’ words could be translated, “while you are going … make disciples!” Making disciples (which encompasses evangelism) should characterize the way that we live. It’s not something that we add onto life, it is our life!

Jesus intended disciple-making to fit with the normal rhythms of everyday life. But to adopt this approach often takes a shift in our mind-set. We need to begin to think “intentional” rather than “additional.” To join Jesus on His redemptive mission, we don’t need to add anything to our already busy schedules, but we do need to invite Him into it!

In making this shift personally, my wife Meredith and I decided to use some of our meal times more intentionally. We already eat, so why not invite our neighbors who don’t know or follow Jesus to join us for a meal? And as we have sat across the table from our neighbors, asking them questions about their lives, hearing their stories and listening to their dreams, it’s been amazing what doors have opened for us to have conversations about our faith in natural and comfortable ways.

• Make a list of the everyday activities that normally fill your schedule during a given week. Look over your list. Does your schedule already intersect with people who don’t know or follow Jesus? What is it that you are already doing naturally, that you can do with greater intentionality, looking for opportunities to share your faith?
• What could that “intentionality” look like practically? Pick one or two things. What’s your first step going to be?