Arizona Southern Baptist Convention

Lists. It seems my world is being overrun by lists. It used to be that my only exposure to lists was David Letterman's Top Ten every night. Now lists have taken on new meaning.

My 13-year-old daughter is not like her daddy. She is very organized and makes lists for everything. She makes a list of what to pack when we go on vacation. She makes a list of chores that she and her brothers must do (oh, they love her for this). Every afternoon she makes a list, in order, of the homework she must complete. And here's the crazy one – #4 on her list last Thursday – "Make a list."

Well, my daughter has inspired me. The other day I was thinking it would be great to make a list of things that followers of Christ need to remember about the task God has given us. This task, which I call PLAN A, is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with this world in which we live.

Just before Jesus left the earth, He said, "Go make disciples." He made the church PLAN A. I know that is heavy!! So I thought I would put together this list. My list. This is nothing groundbreaking or new. Just a few things we, "the church," need to remember about PLAN A. Oh, and, of course, I did it David Letterman style. Here it is ... The Top Ten Things to Remember about PLAN A:

10. Remember to pray. This one should be the first and most obvious one, but often we neglect it. We have the privilege and opportunity to go before the God of the universe on someone else's behalf. However, this is not where we stop.

9. Remember to let people know about your faith. I know it sounds simple, but for someone like me, we need to start simple. Sometimes just the act of telling someone that we have a relationship with Jesus changes everything. It reminds us that people are watching.

8. Remember to tell your story. This is the all-time most-effective "witnessing tool" – tell someone what God has done in your life.

7. Remember that we know the better way (THE GOSPEL). The Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death. Jesus spoke of a "better way" when He said that He came to bring life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10)

6. Remember that someone loved you enough to tell you. It was not too long ago that you had a sickness. Someone shared with you the words of life. You now have the cure. Do you remember what it was like to be sick? Share the cure.

5. Remember to love people ... REALLY. We say we love people, but do we really live this out? I have seen that people are lonely, miserable, ashamed and hurting. How can we sit back and watch people hurting and not share the hope we have?

4. Remember to look for opportunities. We are surrounded by opportunities to share. We just need to seize them when they present themselves.

3. Remember to live in real relationships. Sometimes we seek out relationships just so we can convert people. Live in genuine relationship with people, and they will experience genuine love.

2. Remember the stakes. One word ... HELL!!

1. Remember there is no PLAN B. The Church – YOU – is PLAN A, and there is no PLAN B!!

Ben Barfield is pastor of Common Ground, Tucson, and is church planter strategist for Catalina Association.

See a video of how Common Ground Church reached Danny the atheist for Christ.