INTRODUCTION:
APOSTOLIC MEN IN AN APOSTOLIC AGE

Forge small-group leads are apostolic men—men who know they are living in apostolic times and refuse to live as if they are not. In a Western culture where many have never heard the Gospel and countless others have forgotten it, the call to evangelize is once again urgent. Ours is not an age for vague faith or implicit belief. The Gospel must be preached clearly, personally, and without apology.

But before a man can share the Gospel with coworkers, neighbors, or the men in his group, he must first be able to speak it aloud in the small Church entrusted to him: his home. The domestic Church is where the Gospel becomes real. What is proclaimed on Sunday becomes believable when it is lived throughout the week. The ancient stories of Scripture become living truth when they are embodied by a father and mother who know the Lord, love Him, and speak of Him openly.

This article has two aims:

1. To explain the basic Gospel message in simple, clear terms.
2. To give practical guidance for offering a Christian testimony—your personal story of what Jesus has done in your life.

These two skills—proclaiming the Gospel and sharing your testimony—are essential tools for any apostolic man and indispensable for every Forge small-group lead.

PART I: THE CORE GOSPEL MESSAGE

Before you teach the Gospel to anyone else, let’s begin with the most important question: Do you believe the Gospel?

Where are you with the Lord right now? Do you believe Jesus Christ has personally impacted your life? Do you believe that God, the Lord of the Universe, loves you? Do you believe that he became incarnate and died so that you might live with him for eternity?

Many Forge small-group leaders have walked with the Church for many years. Longevity brings knowledge—of doctrine, history, liturgy, tradition. These are magnificent gifts of our faith. The Church has given the world transcendent art, soaring liturgy, penetrating theology, and venerable traditions. But none of these is the center of Christianity. There is only one center, only one radiant point around which everything else turns: Jesus Christ. And every beautiful thing within the faith—every icon, every chant, every theological insight—grows hollow if it is not animated by Him.

Yet it is surprisingly easy to lose sight of that center. A man can experience a profound conversion, then go off to study theology, immerse himself in books, listen to 1,000 podcasts – and stop praying.  His intellectual labors, worthy as they are, can slowly displace the living relationship they were meant to deepen. In such a case, theology does not become a pathway to holiness but a distraction from it.

So, at the outset of this article on the gospel, I want to once again ask you some questions that get you in the neighborhood of what I’m talking about: Are you still living in conscious relationship with the One at the center of your faith? Do you believe, really believe, the message of Jesus—right now, today?

Prior to founding Forge I worked for an organization of Catholic missionaries. I recall one Saturday afternoon in the Spring a group of us gathered in Pittsburgh for a training weekend. Though we all worked as missionaries, we didn’t actually know each other. So, at one point in the weekend, one-by-one we started to share our stories; that is, the story of how we came to know the Lord and then became missionaries.

The group of missionaries was an impressive group of young men and women. There were folks from Ivy League universities, Division-1 athletes, gifted artists, etc. The conversation went on for hours as each one of us told our stories, saying things about the beauty of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist, our love for Church tradition etc. Many of the stories were quite long narratives about, for example, smart people who studied hundreds of books and read their way into the Catholic Church or athletic people who found that physical prowess ultimately did not satisfy them, or musicians who loved the artistic tradition of the Church, etc.

But there was one person in the group, Jim, who didn’t speak. Everyone else had shared their story, but not Jim. He just sat there, and eventually someone asked him, “Jim, what about you.”

Jim started to shake. He was clearly afraid to talk. His lips quivered. And then, before even a single word came out of his mouth, he started to profusely cry. It was a bit awkward. You could have heard a pin drop. What began as a fairly casual conversation had now emotionally escalated. Eventually three words came out of his mouth: “God is love.”

Then more silence and tears. And he said again…“God is love.”

Eventually, Jim went on to tell the story of growing up on the East Coast, culturally Catholic, but not having his own relationship with the Lord. For him, faith was an exterior, not an interior reality. At one point in his life, Jim had an experience with a group of Christian people, and within that community of people, Jim became deeply convicted of that truth that lies at the center of the gospel and of our faith. God loves us. He sent his son, Jesus, to save us. That Jim had a relationship with Jesus, and that through His death and resurrection, He was over time set free from various grave sins.

Jim’s testimony left every person in that group at a loss for words. His story was not impressive, or complicated. It was genuine. Jim knew how to talk about God’s love because he had experienced it. Jim learned how to say, in his own words, the most important things that anyone can ever say: the gospel. He knew how to say the most important parts of our faith in very simple terms. Quite simply, he learned to evangelize.

WHY THAT MATTERS FOR YOU

That is exactly the kind of thing that every Christian needs to learn to do—say the most important things in very simple, very personal terms. If every father, every mother, every husband and wife, every friend, every small-group lead could summarize the heart of the faith, witness to it, and speak it out loud to the people entrusted to them … the world would look very different. It would be more faithful, more hope-filled, more anchored in God’s love.

This matters for you because your voice carries real weight. You must learn to say these simple, profound truths to your friends—especially the friends you are walking with in discipleship. If you are married, you must speak these truths to your wife and let her hear what God has done in your soul. If you are a father, you must speak these truths to your children, even if you feel clumsy or inexperienced. Children learn what the Gospel means not only from a parish or a school but most directly from a parent who has been personally touched by the love of God.

And in your small group, these truths must be spoken aloud. Men change men. A small group becomes spiritually alive not when every question is answered perfectly but when real men talk honestly about how Jesus has met them, saved them, and walks with them. Your leadership depends, in some way, on your willingness to do what Jim did—speak simply, humbly, and personally about the love of God.

THE FIVE R’s

There are many ways to learn the heart of the Gospel. We’ll focus on one here. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) is a Catholic missionary organization that has been training people to evangelize for decades. When FOCUS trains people to talk about the heart of the Gospel, they do so using what they call the “Five Rs.” Those “Rs” stand for Relationship, Rebellion, Reconciliation, Re-Creation, and Response. Each of these Rs expresses one dimension of the Christian story and helps us reflect on our own place within that story.

Before we discuss this mnemonic device, it is important to understand what the “Five Rs” are—and what they are not. They are simply a helpful tool for summarizing the core message of the Gospel. When speaking with someone personally, it would be awkward to announce or mechanically reference the “Five Rs,” as if you were flipping through flash cards for an exam. Like a basketball player learning to dribble or a musician studying music theory, the aim is not permanent mechanics but interior mastery. What begins as structured instruction should, over time, mature into something natural—something that flows freely and authentically from the heart. Keeping that in mind, the core gospel message can be summarized as follows:

1. RELATIONSHIP: WHAT WE’RE MADE FOR
   Fundamentally, human beings are called to live in relationship with God. Before sin, humanity lived in perfect relationship with God, with one another, and even with the created world. This is why every person experiences a deep longing for something more—because we were made for God.
2. REBELLION: THE CHASM
   Our relationship with God was broken by sin. This begins with Adam and Eve and continues with our own sins today. Because God is infinite, the offense of sin creates an infinite gap between us and Him—one we cannot close on our own. Ever since sin entered the world, humanity has carried a deep sense that something is not as it should be.
3. RECONCILIATION: THE GOD-MAN SOLUTION
   Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, bridges the infinite chasm. As man, He can represent the human race. As God, His act of love on the Cross possesses infinite value. In His death and resurrection, He accomplishes what we could never accomplish on our own. Jesus is the bridge back to the Father.
4. RE-CREATION: TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST
   Jesus not only forgives; He recreates. He offers us His own life, making us into a “new creation.” The grace of this new life flows to us through the Church—its teachings, its sacraments, its fellowship. Everything Christ won for us is given through the Church, but it requires our participation to be received.
5. RESPONSE: “FOLLOW ME”
   Finally, Jesus invites each one of us to respond personally. A disciple is not a perfect person but a wounded person who has found the Divine Physician. Following Jesus is a daily decision, one that shapes how we speak, how we love, and how we share the faith with others.

BRIDGE: FROM GOSPEL TO TESTIMONY

Once you know the Gospel story, the next step is learning to tell how that story became your story. This is what Scripture calls testifying.

PART II: HOW TO TESTIFY

WHY TESTIMONY MATTERS

Think for a moment of one of the most important people you know—a mentor, a trusted friend, a parent or coach. When someone asks you about that person, you do not give a lecture. You speak from the heart. You say what they mean to you, how they’ve shaped you, what they’ve done for your life. This is essentially what a testimony is. It is simply speaking openly about the influence of Jesus Christ and His Church.

People today are often more receptive to authentic, personal stories than they are to abstract theological arguments. A testimony opens a window into a lived relationship with God. As Pope St. Paul VI famously said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” [1] A personal testimony puts skin on the Gospel; it shows how the truths of the faith have entered real human experience.

A testimony also builds trust. When someone hears you speak humbly and honestly about your life—your struggles, your sins, your encounters with grace—it disarms them. It invites them into a space where faith is not a concept but a lived reality. In your small group, this is especially important. Testimonies have a way of lowering defenses and creating a spiritual atmosphere in which men realize they are not alone and that God is at work among them. They also move discussions of the faith from the world of abstract ideas into the world of interpersonal reality.

And in your home, testimonies allow your spouse and children to see your faith from the inside. Children especially need this—they need to hear not only what the Church teaches but what Jesus has done for their dad, their mom, or the people they trust most. Testimonies pass down the faith in a deeply personal, relational way.

Testimonies do not refer merely to the single, dramatic conversion of one’s life, but to any concrete moment in which the Lord acts, teaches, heals, or reveals Himself. These smaller testimonies are often the most helpful, precisely because they meet real people in real situations—much like the Gospel accounts in which Jesus encounters individuals in the ordinary circumstances of their lives.

Some individuals can point to a particular season that constitutes a uniquely life-altering conversion—for example, a movement from atheism to evangelical Christianity, and later a deeper conversion into the Catholic Church. Scripture itself gives us such decisive turning points, most notably in the conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). For the sake of clarity, we will use the word conversion to describe these more fundamental moments of turning.

The word testimony, however, is broader. It can refer to any moment of encounter, renewal, repentance, or genuine change of heart. The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not experience a single thunderclap conversion, but a gradual awakening as Christ walked with them and “opened the Scriptures” to them (Luke 24). In truth, every human life is marked by countless such movements with the Lord—small conversions along the way—though some are undeniably more decisive than others.

With that clarified, here is the basic anatomy of testimony. It may seem simple, but it’s worth laying out clearly.

YOUR STORY(ies) IN FOUR ACTS

1. Past Life – Your Life before Things Changed
   When speaking about a conversion, it is often helpful to describe what your life looked like before encountering the truth: the lack of peace, the false promises you trusted, the idols you served, etc. Likewise, when offering a smaller testimony—such as coming to understand a Church teaching—you should specifically name your misunderstanding thereby preparing your listener to understand the key insight to come.
   
   
2. Encounter – Coming to Know Jesus Christ (or part of his message/teaching)
   When speaking about your conversion, describe the decisive season in which the Lord began to make Himself known to you. What was that encounter like? How did you experience His presence or action in your life? When offering other testimonies, focus on the insight or encounter that led to deeper understanding—for example, struggling with the Church’s teaching on the Sacrament of Reconciliation until a concrete experience of Christ’s mercy through a priest radically changed your perspective.
3. New Life – Deeper Life in Jesus Christ
   How is your life different now that you have had a conversion? You might think back, for example, to the story of Tom Monaghan in the first article. Prior to his conversion Tom served the god of money. Now he serves the True God! Major conversions aside, you might describe for someone how you think and act differently given your new understanding. Carrying forward our example of Reconciliation, one might share how they see confession today and what their engagement with the sacrament looks like.
4. Invitation – Calling others to Know Jesus Christ
   The apostolic life is marked by invitation. In light of your testimony, what are you inviting others into? At its foundation, every Christian is called to invite the world to repent and believe in the Gospel—and at times, the invitation truly is that simple. More often, however, it takes a concrete form: an invitation to pray, to return to the sacraments, or even something as ordinary and courageous as, “Do you want to go with me to confession on Saturday?”

PRACTICAL POINTERS FOR SHARING A TESTIMONY

When learning to share your testimony, a few principles can help guide you.

Authenticity is essential. Sometimes Christians feel the temptation to embellish their stories or present themselves in a way that seems more impressive. Resist that temptation. The power of a testimony lies in its truthfulness. Speak plainly about your life—your joys, your struggles, your sin, and God’s mercy. Most people relate far more easily to a simple, sincere story than to one that sounds polished or triumphant.

Personalization matters. Although you should know the broad contours of your testimony, realize that every situation is different. You will emphasize different parts of your story depending on whether you are speaking to your children, your spouse, a coworker, or a man in your group. Let the Holy Spirit guide you, and don’t be afraid to adjust the story to the moment.

Redemption is often a process rather than a single event. Some Christians have a moment like St. Paul—a dramatic turning point. But many people come to know the Lord gradually, through a series of small encounters or seasons of deeper surrender. Testimonies can reflect this. The goal is not to present one perfect moment but to trace the ways God has continually drawn you deeper into His love.

Seize the small opportunities. Life is filled with holy moments where a small testimony can change the direction of a conversation or open the heart of another person. These moments might arise during a walk with your wife, a quiet conversation after Mass with your son, during a coaching call, or in a simple conversation with a coworker. Testimonies are not reserved for formal settings; they belong in the rhythms of daily life.

CONCLUSION: APOSTOLIC MEN PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

Forge small-group leads are not merely facilitators. You are witnesses. Men sharpen men when they speak of what God has done. The world needs this. Your family needs this. Your small group needs this.

COACH DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS

1. Articulate the Gospel message in your own words. Practice sharing it with another strong Catholic, whether that be a friend, your wife or your Coach.
   
   1. Are you able to articulate the problem (Rebellion) and the solution (Reconciliation) clearly and simply?
   2. Are you able to articulate the call to discipleship (Response); the call to live in love for Jesus Christ and to follow Him?
2. Pick what you take to be the most profound conversion to/encounter with Jesus of your life. Write it out – bullet point format is fine, but spend at least 30 minutes writing down the major points.
   
   1. Have a long form, with all the details you want.
   2. Create a 5-minute version – something that could be shared with someone who is curious but not looking for a long story just yet.
   3. Create a 1-minute version.
   4. Note: Of course a 1 minute and 5 minute version will leave out many very important details and facts, but when sharing our story with others we need to let it fit within normal conversation. By opening up with a 1 minute or 5 minute version, when the time comes, it allows the other person the opportunity to ask for more if they are interested. Sometimes “less is more” at the start.
   5. Tell your coach your story.
3. How does your conversion story or any other testimony illuminate the core gospel message?
4. Share your conversion testimony with Your Coach. Ask him to share his with you.
5. Pray for God to lead you to opportunities to share your conversion testimony with someone. Share your testimony with at least one other person prior to your next coaching meeting. Come prepared to discuss the experience with your coach.