I am reading “Just walk across the room” by Bill Hybels, the Pastor of the Willow Creek church.  I encourage each of you to read it. It will cause you to rethink and relate the great commission into your daily life. 

Most of us know people who do not yet know Christ.  Yet, very few of us actually take the first steps to build the relationships that can make a difference.  In fact, Pastor Hybels discusses a serious trend that he and others have observed in many evangelical churches.  He has noted that in many churches, “The longer a person attends church, the fewer evangelistic discussions they engage in with family members and friends.” 

He notes that statistics and his own experience with people in his church often show that shortly after a believer makes a faith decision, contact with people outside the Christian faith actually decreases.  We Christians tend to insulate ourselves in Christian circles – and sometimes we even tend to go so far as to “get annoyed” with those outside the Kingdom of God. Instead of walking TOWARD people who need to experience the love of God, we often go to lengths to avoid nonbelievers. 

My contention is that most people do this with the best of intentions.  It IS good to learn more about God.  It is good to listen to Christian music and spend time with other Christians….BUT we can easily be deceived into believing that we will “reach out” to people later.  

This is the exact opposite of Jesus’ life and ministry!  He went to great lengths to meet those who were in need of new life.  He welcomed and even sought out interactions with nonbelievers.  Devoted followers of Christ understand and realize that PEOPLE are the one thing that matter most!  They open themselves up to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and reach out to their neighbor, or to the lonely co-worker.

We have to simply identify the people that God has placed in our lives and welcome them into our lives. 

The tool for this month is a simple bookmark.   The purpose of the bookmark is to cause us to be conscious of the people that God has placed in our paths and to think of ways that we can be open and welcoming to them.  Don’t focus on a “hard sell” get to know my Savior approach, but instead “Live in 3D”.