5/5 stars

The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton M. Christensen

The Power of Everyday Missionaries is absolutely the best resource on the topic I have ever encountered. Ever. It’s written for an LDS audience, but anyone with a desire to spread the Good Word of God will find Clayton Christensen’s thoughts on sharing the Gospel enlightening and inspiring!

When Thomas S. Monson recently said “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him,” I’ve got to be honest . . . I got a little nervous. Don’t get me wrong—I’m excited to share my faith when I have opportunities to. I’ve just never had any success. So when Prophet Monson declares NOW is the time I want to be all in. But how do I do it? My passive get-to-know-my-friends-better-and-wait-for-the-topic-to-naturally-come-up-then-invite-them-to-do-something-non-threatening technique obviously doesn’t work. Passive missionary work is a fail. What could I do different? I honestly didn’t know. Until I read this book.

Here’s some of what I learned:

–The idea that we need to make friends first before we can invite them is false.

–Success in member missionary work doesn’t mean baptism. Success means an invitation to do something, whether it’s accepted or not.

–It’s easy to create conversations about the gospel when we realize that what we’re interested in isn’t what they’re interested in.

–There is nothing wrong with sharing the gospel at work, and you can do it in a proud, confident way! (This one was really eye opening to me. He’s got some great ideas about how to go about it in a simple way. In fact, Clayton Christensen’s opinion is that the idea you can’t share the gospel at work is one of Satan’s biggest and most successful lies!)

–We tend to way, Way, WAY over-think missionary work. It’s much, much simpler than we try to make it.

–Sharing the gospel online is easy, effective, and successful. Especially for those that feel like they don’t have a social life outside of church where they can find people to invite!

–Setting goals doesn’t work until you become DESPERATE to achieve them. That’s when the Lord will trust you enough to put people in your path.

–We can have success sharing the gospel with the well-to-do as well as the meek-and-lowly by showing people how the church needs them, not by telling them how they need the church.

Oh, there is so much more!

After explaining each point, he gives examples from his own life illustrating how it works. It’s a simple, effective, and impactful book. It’s only 130 or so pages, and it’s not full of dull scripture references that are so often found in books like this that bog down the experience. It shouldn’t take you long to read.

After reading this book I feel newly empowered to take Prophet Monson’s council and find success. I think you will too.