Just walk across the room

I’m breaking with my usually standard rule of never reading religious books. I don’t like books that tell me how to be a better Christian… usually I don’t feel that they relate to me, that their target reader is someone who is at a different spiritual place then me. Others are too hard to slog through, I start them and feel inspired, but never get very far and give up. I’m just not motivated to push my way through books like that. Thus my resolution…
But like I said, I’m breaking my own rule for a book that a co-worker lent to me and told me I just HAD to read. It sat brooding at me for weeks before I even would pick it up, and then I only started reading it because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. But this book is having a profound impact on me!
It’s called “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels. It’s about following the Holy Spirit’s prompting to “walk across the room” leave your zone of comfortable friends and approach someone about Christ. And the two feelings that I get in equal intensity are conviction and absolute terror. Conviction that “friendship evangelism” or having an impact for Christ one person at a time instead of in big tent meetings is the right way to go in our society. But also personal conviction that God wants me to take that kind of risk with my own life. That I’m far too comfortable and not willing to risk myself like that… and God wants me to stretch and grow… and risk.
But with this conviction comes a feeling of absolute terror. There is no other word for it. The thought of broaching the subject of Christ with someone who doesn’t believe strikes a fear inside me so deep that it makes me tremble just thinking about it. Approaching the subject of personal belief with another person who believes differently from me is an absolute Post-Modern no-no. And I have lived in this Post-Modern world long enough to become comfortable with accepting others for what they believe and never challenging their beliefs. Because telling them that Jesus is the way to live is implying that the way they live is “not the way.” Telling them that Having Jesus in their life would make their life better is implying that their life is not good enough the way it is. I believe this is true, but the thought of actually verbalizing it to someone else makes me want to run back to my safe little Adventist circle.
The book challenges my faith. “If you are going to walk across the room toward someone you have to have the kind of faith that believes that everyone in this world would be better if they had it.” Well of course I have that kind of faith! I want everyone to share the joy in Christ that I have! But do I want it enough to risk myself… to really and truly share it with someone else?