The astoundingly successful spread of the gospel to all ends of the known world in a relatively brief period of time mystified many 2,000 years ago, and continues to do so now. If you understand the unorthodox template by which the message was delivered, however, you can start to see from whence that success came.

Humans love hearing and learning from stories, and when those stories are novel or delivered in an unexpected way, we pay special attention. Jesus and his followers took the unexpected approach of moving towards brokenness wherever it was encountered while most moved away. They sought to give to others everything they had, both physically and spiritually, and they spread the unconventional idea of giving control of their very lives to God. Instead of proclaiming themselves powerful, the apostles humbly proclaimed themselves to be sinful and in need of salvation. And because they did all of these things, people paid attention, and ultimately, they believed. If we can copy this approach in our daily lives, more people around us may very well do the same.