Just Do It!

I've just started reading a book by Bill Hybels entitled Just Walk Across the Room. The gist of it is that Christ-followers need to listen more to the promptings of the Spirit to strike up spiritual conversations with people... even if it pulls us out of our comfort zones. Honestly, this has been a struggle for me. As relational as I am, it is often difficult to introduce myself to someone whom I don't know... and strike up a conversation about Jesus, church, their spirituality, etc.

But Hybels reminds us that sharing our faith is often a process. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit will prompt us and give us a wide-open door to steer a conversation toward eternal things... but, sometimes He doesn't. And, in those times, we must remember that we all have particular roles to play in this great "drama of redemption." Sometimes, our part is to simply be the "planter." There are times when the only thing God wants us to do is "drop a seed" - share our testimony, share the plan of salvation... or maybe just share ourselves. Sometimes, just the way we represent Christ is enough to stir up thoughts like, "Wow... they don't act like anyone I've ever met" or "She's the most generous and gracious person I know."

Then, there are other times when we're called to play the role of "water-bearer." God has already used someone else to plant the seed, and maybe that seed was moving them from a -10 to a -5 on their "distance from Christ" meter. Now, the Holy Spirit is using you to bring them to a -1. And He may use you or someone else to help them at a later time cross the line of faith. The point is, God gives the increase - we just play the role He's calling us to play at the time He's calling us to play it.

Here are three things that Hybels says we always need to keep in mind when we're maintaining an openness for the Spirit to use us:

Develop Friendships - by engaging in the lives of people around us
Discover Stories - before sharing our own story and God's redemptive story
Discern Next Steps - by following the Holy Spirit's direction

So, the next time you're in a place with a group of people, and all of a sudden you feel a nudge to go introduce yourself to someone on the other side of the room... no, you may not be crazy! It just might be a prompting of the Spirit. Go ahead... just do it... just take a little walk across the room. You'll never know the role God might have you to play in altering this person's eternal destiny.