Chuck Bridges Blog

Yesterday in our Main Event we talked about the “Power of Story.” Every Christ-Follower has a story that needs to be heard. This focus carried us through week 3 of our “Just Walk Across the Room” series. The bottom line for us in reference to sharing “Our Story” is whether or not we have anything to talk about. The Scriptures verify that IT is pretty much impossible to NOT share “Our Story” when we are experiencing His power, love, joy, etc.

Last night we ended our “Connecting Point” session with week four of “Just Walk.” We had some very healthy dialogue about how we as Christ-Followers can be “separated” from lifestyles that violate God’s ‘Holiness’ standards while at the same time engaging people “far from God” with the hopes of building a relationship with them so we can eventually share “His Story.” I was very impressed to hear how some in our group are already spending time with people who are “far from God.” They shared how difficult it is to spend very much time with some of these people because of the distance in lifestyle choices.

How much time to spend with people who are far from God and when to Engage them for Christ are not questions with easy answers. Basically, it comes down to your personal “Walk” with Christ. You have to be strong enough to “hang out” with people (if the opportunity comes) who are doing things you don’t agree with and not be swayed to experiment with their vices. As long as we make it clear what our convictions are, if we demonstrate unconditional love, most people will respect our stand. We can have great influence on people IF we can Hang-Out with them (in their environment), be kind, friendly, and gentle as we seek to show them who Christ really is!

I know it’s not that simple but, when you search the Gospels you find that Jesus spent a large amount of His time on earth hanging out with people who openly violated God’s holiness. Also, remember that, for Jesus to come to earth means that everywhere He went was an environment that was opposite of His standards. Yet, He still came. He risked His own reputation by going to those who Needed God the most! His passion to help those who were LOST was so consuming that He put up with a lot of things that no doubt “offended” His holiness.

“Just Walk Across the Room” is about taking the necessary steps toward people whose lifestyle choices do offend the “New Nature” we receive at salvation. It’s about resisting the desire to correct people, argue our position, or show disgust by their actions/attitudes so that we can demonstrate how radical His love really is. After all, if people go to such great lengths and spend such massive amounts of money just to “FEEL GOOD,” imagine what will happen to them when they experience the GREATEST HIGH OF ALL — SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST!!!