"Just Walk Across the Room" (Bill Hybels)

TITLE: Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith
AUTHOR: Bill Hybels
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006, (224 pages).
ISBN: 978-0310-27218-2

This book invites Christ-followers to walk as Jesus walked, and talk as Jesus talked. It is based on evangelism up close and personal, to be willing to step out of our comfort zones, to learn to strike up a conversation creatively, to use our life stories in the faith talk, and to adopt different methods for different people. The key idea in this book is to see evangelism as natural as possible, and as personal as possible. Experiencing God with others is not that difficult once we are able to create circles of friendliness and genuine love.

Beginning with a look at how Jesus ministers to the people then, Hybels notices the apparent natural and non-manipulative ways of Jesus. Jesus was able to strike up normal conversations with people from all walks of life. After going through some of the 'evangelistic fads' over the past few years, Hybels opts for the need to live in the Spirit, and to move in the Spirit in our evangelism. He offers the 3-D model:

1. Develop Friendships;
2. Discover Stories;
3. Discerning next steps.

It is important to be able to tell our own story first. After opening up a conversation, Hybels gives four criticisms of how some good stories can go bad. Some Christians tend to be long-winded that they lose their audience. Secondly, they are too fuzzy in their messaging that listeners lose the point. Thirdly, some Christians use too many 'Christian' language that non-believers find hard to understand. Fourthly, some Christians come across as arrogant in their sharing. Hybels suggests the following:

• Keep it brief: Brevity
• Keep it clear: Clarity
• Keep it simple: Simplicity
• Keep it humble: Humility.

I like the three illustrations he gives about why people come to Christ.

1. Bridge Illustration: Jesus is the bridge to link people to God
2. Do vs Done: We are saved by grace, and need to simply trust God's work already 'done' on the Cross.
3. Morality Ladder: Why try to bridge the gap on our own good works? 

In learning how Jesus evangelizes, Hybels learns several lessons. Firstly, see how Jesus is able to bridge the gap between God and the hearers. Secondly, notice how Jesus asks questions out of ordinary circumstances. Thirdly, see how Jesus is patient with the Samaritan woman. Fourthly, learn from Jesus how he manages to stay on track, and not be easily distracted by the words of people. Finally, see how Jesus gives hope to the hopeless. The way Hybels highlights Greg Ferguson's song, the 'Peacemaker' is brilliant. 

This book can be used in small groups because every chapter ends with a set of discussion questions. It can also be used as an idea generator for evangelistic training. It deserves to be one of those books on any Church's library, especially the outreach section. 

I highly recommend the book for its simplicity, wisdom, and very practical steps to practice walking our faith and sharing the gospel.

conrade

"The Importance of Being Foolish" (Brennan Manning)

TITLE: The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus (Hardcover)
AUTHOR: Brennan Manning
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2005.

This is a very unique book with a provocative title. Essentially, it is about radical discipleship. Learning from a small community of 230 disciples who call themselves, "Little Brothers of Jesus," the author catches a glimpse of Jesus's possible early years, working quietly, invisibly, in manual labour and prayer intentionally. Through the time there, he learns:

"... that many of the burning theological issues in the church today are neither burning nor theological and that in an age characterised (in some quarters) by confusion, third-rate theatrics, and infidelity, it is not more rhetoric that Jesus demands but personal renewal, fidelity to the gospel, and creative conduct." (x)

Thinking like Jesus requires us to be foolish in the eyes of the world. This is an important imperative.

Part One talks about the way we live through three frames: Truth, Transparency, and Diversions.  In Truth, Manning talks about how passionate Jesus is with regards to truth. Firstly, the world thinks that truth telling is merely avoiding 'petty lying,' not deceiving others,' etc. Instead, truth telling begins when we 'stop deceiving ourselves' (5). It requires us to be honest about reality. We need to place more importance on the 'world of God' instead of the 'world of our material existence' (13) We need to replace our 'cynicism and pessimism' with 'awe and wonder' about God's working in this world.

The second frame of 'transparency' requires us to live like Jesus in such a way, that our thoughts, our ideas, our dreams, our desires, and our interactions with people are transparent for anyone to see. He warns us about three cloaks that cover our transparency.

"Often our preoccupation with the three most basic human desires - security, pleasure, and power - is the cloak that covers transparency. The endless struggle for enough money, good feelings, and prestige yields a rich harvest of worry, frustration, suspicion, anger, jealousy, anxiety, fear, and resentment. These powerful, emotion-backed desires cause 99 percent of the self-inflicted and unnecessary suffering in our lives. They continually focus our attention on self and keep us from being transparent,  dimming and obscuring 'the glory of God in the face of Christ.' (2 Cor 4:6) " (38-9)

Transparency means honesty with ourselves, that we need to undergo 'continual conversion.' It is a call:

"Christianity, then, comprises more than involvement in human rights struggles, environmental causes, or peace programs. Fullness of life in the Spirit is more than finding Christ in others and serving him there. It is a summons to personal holiness, ongoing conversion, and new creation through union with Christ Jesus. " (53)

The third frame of Diversions highlights how easily one is to be swayed from the path of following Jesus. The pride, the distractions, and the pursuit of security, pleasure, and power thwarts our path toward holiness and God.

These three frames set the stage for another three frames in Part Two of the book, entitled, "The Mind of Christ." Having the mind of Christ requires the pursuit of God and to let the self be transcended by the love of God. Becoming more like Christ requires a heart of repentance. It entails identifying ourselves with the work of the kingdom.

Part Three reveals the power of the cross and the resurrection wisdom that the world cannot understand. They are foolishness to the world. Wisdom in God means that we will be laughed at, spat upon, and bullied by the world, just like Jesus. It is the point that the world will never know and will never understand.

My Comments

I find this book particularly touching because it is so counter-cultural. Unlike books that tell people about the merits of spirituality in terms of success, good feelings, and inspirational stuff, Manning adopts a no-holds-barred exposition on 1 Cor 1:24, to proclaim Christ crucified and the power of the cross and the resurrection. Spiritual wisdom is not worldly cleverness. Instead, spiritual wisdom may require followers to be ridiculed, laughed at, taunted, spat upon, disregarded, dismissed, and cast aside. Manning weaves in powerful stories and shares his convictions plainly without mincing his words. His concluding words are riveting and convicting.

"How long have you been a Christian? How long have you been living in the Spirit? Do you know what it is to love Jesus Christ? Do you know what it is to have your love unsatisfied, endured in loneliness, and ready to burst your restless, ravenous heart? Do you know what it is to have the pain taken away, the hole filled up, to reach out and embrace this sacred Man and say sincerely, 'I cannot let you go. In good times and bad, victory or defeat, my life has no meaning without you.' If this experience has not illuminated your life with its brilliance, then regardless of age, disposition, or state in life, you do not understand what it means to be a Christian. This and this alone is authentic Christianity." (173-4)

Ratings: 4.75 stars of 5.

conrade

"Disciple" by Bill Clem

TITLE: Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus (RE: Lit)
AUTHOR: Bill Clem
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2011.

This is one of the best current books on discipleship in the Church. Written in a clear and captivating manner, Clem has managed to distill the essentials of discipleship by focusing on the person of Christ. Beginning with the original purpose of man, the author takes the time to establish the groundwork that man's calling is still to be the image of God, that man has been created to be. Clem shows us that God reveals Himself to us, through story, and enables us through listening. What is at risk is not God's story to man, but man's distortion of God's story. He writes:

"The God of the Bible does not seem as interested in us knowing about him as he desires for us to actually know him - to have experiential knowledge of him." (12)

He goes on to add that man's version of his own story is distorted and is a futile search for significance. I find it a great reminder not to make the gospel so man-friendly, that it fails to catch God's story. God's story is told through creation (evidence of God in the world), through the Bible (Inspired Word), through Jesus (Incarnation), through the Triune God (relationships). Other themes of the story include conflict and redemption, and the way back to the image of God is via worship, community, mission, and a keen awareness that man is part of something bigger. Much bigger.

The rest of the book hones on:

• True Image vs Distorted Identity;
• True Worship vs Distorted Worship;
• True Community vs Distorted Community;
• True Mission vs Distorted Mission.

Clem ends the book with a call to renew our focus on God in discipleship, demonstrated in planning, in multiplying, and in faithful living. Without the Cross of Christ, man moves toward shrinking hope. Through the Cross of Jesus, man progresses toward expanding hope and joy in God. The true hero of the story is in Jesus.

The image of God is mysterious, and for man to take wonder. Clem warns readers that there is a tendency to replace this image with 'blessings from God' like 'raises, promotions, positions, and possessions.' (69) There is a danger to replace interconnected living with individualistic lifestyles. There are three major distortions of one's sense of identity:

1. "I am what I do." - where one's sense of identity is based on successes or failures in the world
2. "I am What has been done to me." - where one's sense of identity is based on a reaction or retaliation of what has been done.
3. "I am my relationships, my role, and responsibilities" - of one's sense of identity being wrapped up in temporal and undependable things.

True worship is one that is in love, in truth, in Spirit, in glory of God. Distortions of worship includes the three gateways of pride (Pleasure, Power, People).  In pride lies an idolatry of self that lives a life that is susceptible to anger, or fear.

True community learns to worship together, is devoted to truth, prayer, communion, belonging, and witnessing together. Unfortunately, community is often distorted in at least four ways:

1. Distortion #1: community as therapy, seeing sin or a need to make an excuse to come together.
2. Distortion #2: Some see community as a time to network and make friends or business partners.
3. Distortion #3: Community as Program, where the community is loosely held through programming alone.
4. Distortion #4: Community as 'exclusively Christian', that creates an unhealthy 'us-vs-them' mentality.

True mission is in two parts. The first is about unveiling the glory of God, manifested in God's people, redeemed creation. The second is about discovering and destroying the effects of sin. Again, mission is distorted through various kinds of 'onlys.'

1. Only the message of evangelism, where mission is limited to proclaiming the gospel
2. Only mercy is needed, where mission is limited to good works, social justice, etc
3. Only freeing from sin, which limits the gospel to a mere unlocking of the door and nothing more
4. Only apologetics, where one deals with trying to win arguments for the faith.

Instead, true mission has 4 components. One needs to declare the gospel of hope boldly in spite of opposition in the world. One needs to disclose the kingdom of God through Christlikeness. One needs to display Jesus and the Kingdom through tangible ways, to reconcile man to his original image of God. One needs to defend the gospel of hope, against doubts, sin, and all manner of evil. 

In Planning, Clem deals with three common reactions to mission. Firstly, to the statement "I can't do this," he uncovers the hurdles of habitual sins, debilitating mindsets, and a lack of priority management. He lists down ten friends, or 'specialists' that every disciple needs at various times of his journey to discipleship.

• "A counselor to address your emotional sticking points."
• "A coach to call you to accountability for the goals you set."
• "A pastor to provide spiritual direction."
• "An encourager to provide the inspiration to 'hang in there' and not give up."
• "A peer to serve as an influencer."
• "A consultant to provide information and input."
• "An example to provide a template through their experience."
• "A mentor who is a life stage or two ahead of you to provide wisdom."
• "A friend with whom to walk through the journey."
• "A partner who labors toward the same cause." (188-9)

He proposes a Shepherding compass to help leaders to grow, to feed, to lead, and to protect their flock. Finally, he urges the disciple to be fruitful and multiply through prayer, through the shaping of oneself in the Word, through forgiveness that reconcile relationships, through service with a servant heart, through a visionary mindset, and many more.

My Comments

I like the way that Clem builds his case about discipleship is all about becoming the image of God that God has called us to be, THROUGH Jesus. It is the imitation of Christ. It is to put away our distorted nature, and to let Christ redeem our fallen selves. Without God, the 'image of God' is essentially meaningless. Clem's book is very intentional about becoming like Christ, believing in Christ, belonging to Christ, and bearing the image of Christ to all, through community and hopeful living.

Clem's main idea is this:

"The point I am attempting to make is that if someone is oriented toward imaging God, then the disciple-making process will be more transformational than an informational set of verses and lessons." (65)

Well said. This is a book that deserves to be read by Church leaders and especially disciples of Christ. If you are serious about discipleship, but do not know where to start, the common wisdom is to begin with prayer and the Bible. If you still need help, you can use this book to spearhead your journey into meaningful and exciting path of discipleship.

Rating: 5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book is provided to me free, courtesy of Crossway Books and NetGalley without any obligation of a positive review. The opinions expressed are freely mine.