by Dave Miller
Previous Chapter 6.2 | Next Chapter 6.4
To whom can you speak the gospel? God has saved you with somebody else in mind and those somebodies are all around you. God is ready to make his appeal through you in everyday moments to everyday people. So think of people you know who are far from God. They may be without Christ or simply not walking with Christ.
Before you begin, know this: It is not your responsibility to determine the spiritual readiness of someone or to determine whether someone is a believer by your gut feeling or spiritual intuition. The gospel is the filter by which we determine if the Holy Spirit is working. You cannot know the true spiritual receptivity of a person until you see the response to the gospel, positive or negative. So we say “far from God” to shy away from making determinations we are unable to make. So who are ten (10) people you know that are far from God?
People
Start with a list of people.
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Places
If you haven’t made it to ten simply list the places you go and people far from God there. You may or may not know their names. You may have specific people or generic ones like “Girl at gas station” or “waiter at TGI Friday’s.” You may even just have a place like “Starbucks” or “Zoo” where you know there are people but have never thought to intentionally share the gospel there.
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Passions
Still need to think of more? List the passions or hobbies you have and people that participate in them with you or around you. For instance you might write “Running” or “OKC Thunder Basketball” (at least you would should you cheer for the best team in the NBA yayuh!). The more specific the better, but don’t worry if your answers are broad. In time, with intentionality, your vague answers will become people you know.
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Your 10 (Relationship Map)
Now we are going to take those names and map your relationships. In the scriptures the Greek word “oikos” referred to an entire household. Households included everyone from immediate and extended family to servants. The oikos idea we are using here is the circle of influence God has given you. This circle contains relationships and opportunities that occur with everyday people in everyday moments. The people you just listed are your oikos. They are ready to hear the gospel. Making a relationship map will help you be intentional, as you become the ambassador of Jesus to your ministry.
In the illustration below, fill in the names you listed above in the blanks. Write each name or location in the circles around the “Me Circle.” Start with at least 10 but add as many as necessary, the only limit to God’s appeal through you will be you. I would encourage you to make your relationship map on a sheet of paper you can keep with you and in front of you often.
Your 10 for 10
The most effective gospel sharing strategy is praying with you sleeves rolled up! Our Partnership with the Holy Spirit is exponentially weighted towards his work and our response. Pray for your 10 for 10 minutes a day is a great way to get started! Use your relationship map as a prayer map!
10 for 10: Pray for your 10, 10 minutes a day.
In John 17 Jesus prayed for generations of disciples. The focus of his prayer should be an important example to us at this point. In verses 6-8 Jesus prays for his immediate disciples:
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them.I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Jesus didn’t just pray for his first generation of disciples. He modeled prayer for the generations to come by the witness of the first disciples. In verse 20-21 Jesus prayed:
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
God has saved you with someone else in mind, which means he will save those in your circle of influence with someone else in mind. We are going to start thinking and praying now for the next generation of believers. Take a moment and add the people, places, or passions of those with whom those in your 10 for 10 will share. If they decide to follow Jesus then they will be image-bearing ambassadors with a mission and message as well. Who can those you lead to Jesus reach?
Notice the dates next to some of the circles. This is a simple goal setting tool. Selecting a date by which you want to share with one of your 10 for 10 will help keep you focused and on track week after week.
The first steps of a gospel movement through the Holy Spirit’s power in your life begin with your intentionality. Your 10 for 10 relationship map is your mission. Use this relationship map as a tool to pray for multiple generations of disciples and to keep focused on the ministry given to you by God as his ambassador.
Jesus started with 12 and we are still talking about his life, death, burial, and resurrection today. He modeled a focus on disciples who make disciples by asking the Father for generations of believers through the word of the first disciples and all those who come after them, including you!
Pray for multiple generations of disciple-making disciples through your ministry. Expect those who trust in Jesus to in turn speak of Jesus to their circle of influence. Watch God bring his kingdom to your circle of influence right smack dab in the middle of the ordinary!
But, what do you say to them?
Until there's #NoPlaceLeft...
Sentergy: When Jesus, People, Practice and Theology Collide
Chapter 1: The Glory of God
Chapter 2: The Glory of God in Jesus
Chapter 3: The Glory of God in the Gospel
Chapter 4: The Glory of God in Disciple Making
Chapter 5: If You Love Me You Will Obey What I Command
Chapter 6: Monday Morning Disciple Making
Chapter 7: Monday Morning Disciple Making Part 2
Interlude: Sent Nations Study
Chapter 8: All Scripture All People All Places by Carter Cox
Chapter 9: The Lump In Your Throat