Why does it feel almost impossible to earn someone's trust today, especially if you're a Christian?

Doug and Steve dig into the first of the Five Thresholds: trust, the seed that has to be planted before curiosity, openness, seeking, or following Jesus can ever take root.

They unpack why church scandals have raised the cost of trust so high, and share the small, practical moves, like asking for a favor or showing up in someone else's world, that actually rebuild it.

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Welcome to The 5T Podcast, featuring:

Doug Schaupp · Founder

Steve Tamayo · Executive Coach

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⁠Learn more about the Five Thresholds.⁠

Your next conversation about Jesus starts here.

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Trust doesn't happen by accident, and for a lot of people, distrust of Christians isn't an overreaction. It's the default starting point.

In this episode, Doug and Steve look at why trust is so hard to earn in a culture shaped by public scandal and skepticism, and what Jesus's approach to the woman at the well in John 4 teaches about becoming a trust builder instead of just waiting for people to come to you.

You'll hear about:

• How Doug still remembers the exact breakfast, decades later, that made him decide a Bible study leader named Elias was trustworthy
• Why church scandals land differently than other public failures (and why millennials often open spiritual conversations already assuming the worst)
• How Jesus modeled trust-building in John 4 by going into Samaria first
• Why going to someone else's Easter egg hunt builds more trust than hosting your own
• How studying a Metallica song with a friend and entering into someone's world beats inviting them to yours

Steve and Doug close by previewing where the Five Thresholds go next: once trust is in place, some people will start asking real questions about why you believe what you believe, which is exactly where curiosity begins.

The Five Thresholds

1. Trust
2. Curiosity
3. Openness
4. Seeking
5. Following Jesus

Scripture: John 4

Book: ⁠I Once Was Lost ⁠by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp

Interested in coaching with Doug? Head over to ⁠https://dougschaupp.com/⁠ for more!

Why do spiritual conversations so often feel forced, frustrating, or like a sales pitch?

Doug Schaupp and Steve Tamayo introduce the Five Thresholds, a practical framework for understanding how people move from distrust to trust, curiosity, openness, seeking, and ultimately following Jesus.

Discover why friendship evangelism can stall when we misread someone's spiritual journey, and how learning to recognize their next step can turn evangelism from a burden into the joy of walking with people toward Jesus.

·

Welcome to The 5T Podcast, featuring:

Doug Schaupp · Founder

Steve Tamayo · Executive Coach

·

Learn more about the Five Thresholds.

Your next conversation about Jesus starts here.

Sharing Jesus with someone isn't always a single conversation or a straight line.

In the first episode of the 5T Podcast, Steve Tamayo and Doug Schaupp share their own journeys and introduce the Five Thresholds, a framework developed through years of evangelism and campus ministry that helps Christians better understand how people move toward faith.

You'll hear about:

• Why assuming everyone is already a "seeker" can make evangelism frustrating
• How a 30-week Bible study helped expose a missing piece in Doug's understanding of conversion
• The movement from distrust to trust, curiosity, openness, seeking, and following Jesus
• Why the right invitation at the wrong stage can actually push someone away
• How the Five Thresholds can complement approaches such as friendship evangelism and Alpha
• Why evangelism is something the whole Christian community can participate in
• How Mark 4:26–29 offers a biblical picture of sowing, waiting, discerning, and harvesting

Steve and Doug also preview what's ahead this season: practical help becoming a better trust builder, asking better questions, cultivating openness, walking alongside seekers, and confidently inviting people to follow Jesus.

The goal isn't simply better evangelism techniques. It's becoming the kind of friend who can recognize where God may already be at work in someone's life and faithfully join Him there.

The Five Thresholds

1. Trust
2. Curiosity
3. Openness
4. Seeking
5. Following Jesus

Scripture: Mark 4:26–29

Book: I Once Was Lost by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp

Interested in coaching with Doug? Head over to https://dougschaupp.com/ for more!