God calls each of us to not only share our faith, but help others take their next step toward Jesus through discipleship.
Our most recent guest on the Ask About My Faith podcast, Caleb Crutchfield, sits down with us to discuss his work with Collaborate Good and shares beautiful testimonies of evangelism through genuine relationships.
Caleb was raised by a Christ-following family in central Oklahoma. As the youngest of three, he vividly remembers overhearing his parents deep in conversation about the gospel with his older sister and thinking, “I believe in Jesus. I want Him to be my savior as well.” It was then that he decided to give his life to the Lord. While his salvation story is deeply rooted in his family’s heritage, the decision was a personal one.
Live Your Faith Wherever You Are
“God wants to use us where we are.”
Crutchfield’s passion for sharing the gospel started at a young age. He was heavily involved in student ministry throughout high school and college. During that time, Caleb’s faith steadily grew as he learned to live out his beliefs where he was.
He tried to find ways to articulate what was compelling about the gospel in a space where people felt like they didn’t need it. This led to many open and honest conversations with his peers. In many ways, it was the conversations during that season of his life that inspired his ministry today. Caleb gets to live out his passion daily through the ministry Collaborate Good, which serves as a Young Life-type ministry within the co-working space.
“I don’t see myself as this incredible evangelist. I see myself as a Christian who wants to bear witness in the place where God has me.”
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The Call to Disciple
Caleb’s work with Collaborate Good centers around conversation and connection. Through monthly group discussions, he and his team can lead thought-provoking talks encouraging people to examine their lives and beliefs. They deliberately cultivate an open and loving environment free of judgment. This allows them to build genuine relationships with people, which leads to more pointed conversations about faith and, in some cases, salvation.
During our talk, it was clear that Caleb and his team have countless incredible faith conversation stories. He shares stories of two men in particular, Max and Michael. While their journeys are separate, they’ve mirrored each other in many ways.
Both men grew up with some kind of faith background. Max was raised Catholic and Michael is Jewish, yet neither accepted the faith they were raised in as their own. They both found themselves gravitating more towards spiritualism or Buddhism. God is persistent, however, and despite their hesitations, both men showed immense interest in learning about God and the gospel.
Caleb had multiple conversations with both men, building genuine relationships with each of them. He was able to become a source of answers and insights on God and Christianity, but he wasn’t the only one. God brought multiple people into both Max's and Michael’s lives, allowing them to explore who God is in a new way.
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Advice on Evangelism and Discipleship
Our talk with Caleb Crutchfield was full of incredible teachings and snippets of wisdom, but when we asked him what advice he had for our listeners, he offered these four tips.
Equip yourself.
Make your relationship with God a priority, and as you read scripture, building your faith, ask yourself, “What stirs my heart to know God more?” Whatever stirs you to know God more will likely be what stirs others. Caleb encourages all of us to lean into the most compelling aspects of the gospel because those are the things we crave.
Invest in relationships.
When someone knows you love them, they are more open. Remember, salvation is just the first step; the actual call is discipleship.
Use the four C’s.
When having faith conversations, use the four C’s: create, critique, complete, and correct.
- Create the conversation
- Critique the cultural narrative.
- Compell with the gospel
- Correct the misunderstanding about Christianity.
Engage in worthwhile conversations.
Talk about real things with people. Go deeper than surface small talk. People have real perspectives that can help us gain understanding about where they’re coming from. For ideas on conversation starters, you can utilize the resources provided by Collaborate Good.
If there is one thing you can take away from our conversation with Caleb, it is this: evangelism and discipleship doesn’t need to be complicated. It can be as simple as forming open, genuine, loving relationships with the people who come into your life. Allow yourself to be honest about your faith to those around you, and listen to them without pretext or judgment.
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