Sometimes a book comes along that simply and profoundly waters my soul. Just Walk Across the Room is that book for me right now. It has raised my respect level for Bill Hybels (already high) and has warmed my heart back to the simple call and blessing of pointing people to Jesus.
Hybels has a strength in keeping the right things important. In not getting sucked into the glitz of being famous. In remaining humble and true to the nature of his own Revolutionary discipleship while steering two large and effective organizations, Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association.
Here's the bottomline of the book:
These days, I'm more convinced than ever that the absolute highest value in personal evangelism is staying attuned to and cooperative with the Holy Spirit. [emphasis, his.]
The picture of this spirit-directed action is a walk across a room for the sake of connecting with someone God is prompting you to pursue. That kind of simple imagery works will in activating my heart. Over the last few days I've found myself seeing people nearby and asking, "should I walk across to them, Lord." Without trying to I've granted deeper access to my heart simply by picking up the central image of the book.
This book is filled with humble and valuable stories of connection alongside of teaching and exhortation from Scripture. Stories of walks across the room and Biblical pictures of the same. And it is empowering, not pushy. It gives you a sense of excitement about encountering people and leaves you saying, "I can do this--God will help me."
I'm so blessed by this book that I will be doing a focus small group this fall (4 weeks) based on the teaching (I sound like Victor Kiam: "I liked it so much, I bought the company!"--BTW, as a true child of the 80's, I didn't need the wikipedia article to remember that quote.) It'll be a back to basics, let's point people to Jesus kind of group that refreshes the soul and activates the feet. Sounds Revolutionary to me.
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