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Tricking People To Follow Jesus – Part 1 (Infuse Leadership Podcast)

Episode 9 of the Infuse Leadership Podcast is now available on iTunes, on our website HERE and also right here on the blog.  The title of this episode is “Tricking People To Follow Jesus.”  This was actually born out of a question one of our listeners turned in, so we are super excited about that.  On this episode we talk about how to lead people to Jesus in an environment where you’re not really allowed to do that.  In the secular work environment, how can a believer lead someone to Jesus without being overt in their conversation?

To help us out we brought in two special guests.  Pastor Derek Mowery is currently the Executive Pastor at Element Church but before he was in ministry he served in management in the Kroger Grocery store for around 10 years.  Todd Halvorson is a volunteer leader here at Element Church, serving  on our Leadership Council, and is currently the store manager for Michael’s craft store here in town.  He has been in management at Michael’s for 18 years.  Pastor Jared Bayless, our regular host on the podcast, also stepped in as a guest as well.

Derek, Todd and Jared offer some great advice and insight into leading people to Jesus in this podcast.  As they each share personal stories and successes I think you’ll be inspired to be more intentional about leading people to Jesus in whatever environment you find yourself in.  Part 2 of this podcast will be released on Tuesday, May 16th.

The links to listen are below, as well as some key thoughts from the Podcast.  If you use iTunes, please rate and review the podcast to help spread the word about what God is doing!

Apple iTunes link HERE.

Online link HERE.

1.  “I might be the only church someone ever sees.” — Todd said he asks himself the question, “Are people seeing the Jesus I want them to see in me?”  That’s a great question to ask yourself any time. All of us as Christians are representing Jesus wherever we go.  Are people seeing the Jesus in us we want them to see?

[Tweet “”I might be the only church someone ever sees.””]

2.  People will ask you about faith if they see you live out yours!  —  Both Todd and Derek shared stories about a specific person that they were able to influence without using their words first.  Todd even shared about being able to influence a family member of one of his co-workers, so even influencing someone he didn’t know by simply living out his faith.  Derek was able to influence a co-worker by simply recognizing issues in his life and offering some wisdom to what he was going through.  Not necessarily going to the Bible or preaching, just taking an interest in someone’s life.

[Tweet “People will ask you about faith if they see you live out yours!”]

3.  If God is not giving me a new position I need to change my perspective of the one I’m in. —  Jared offered some great advice from a turning point in his life.  If you find yourself stuck in a job that you hate, you might be encouraged by hearing what Jared had to say about a similar circumstance.  “Instead of praying, ‘God just get me through this day’, I started praying, ‘God who do you want me to reach today?'”  In that attitude shift, Jared started working with excellence in a job he hated, modeling what it looks like to “work as unto the Lord.”

4.  The Biblical principles you demonstrate will open the door to Gospel discussions —  Derek talked about how when you live out “truth” people will seek “truth” from you.  This goes back to one of the earlier points.  It reminds me of 1 Peter 3:15  Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.

[Tweet “The Biblical principles you demonstrate will open the door to Gospel discussions”]

Todd also talked about using Biblical principles in the way you lead.  People may not be looking for a Bible answer but when they see that the way you operate “works” they are going to ask you about your leadership or your life.  “No one is going to care about the ingredients until they try your dish.”  Great statement!  When what you are offering with your life is desirable, people will want to know what it is that makes you different.

5.  Christian values won’t make sense to an unbelieving world — Jared told a great story about a co-worker thinking he was so weird for not living with his girlfriend at the time.  Jared told her, “It’s not that I don’t want to, I do.  But I know if we live together, we’re going to sleep together too, and as a Christian we want to honor God with that part of our lives.”  Later on, this same girl came to Jared and asked about the “Christian music” he was making.  She said, “There is something about it that makes me feel good.”

6.  Jesus is already in the conversation because you’re in the conversation —  You don’t have to force Jesus into a conversation.  Jesus is in the conversation whether you use His name or not because you’re in the conversation.  If we will focus on living our lives for Jesus people will end up asking us about Jesus.

[Tweet “Jesus is already in the conversation because you’re in the conversation”]