Book Reviews
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed.” Francis Bacon (d.1626)
Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith
Bill Hybels, Zondervan, s006.
Reviewed by Aubrey Ducker,
Orlando, FL
Most textbooks are rather bland and unremarkable. Boiling down complexities to an introductory level leaves many reading only the chapter headings and guessing what is included. Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels, a textbook for Evangelism 101, cannot be treated so lightly. Using clever headings and provocative discussions Hybels shows that the simplest and oldest methods of evangelism can work today just as they did for Jesus and the disciples.
Most unfortunate for today’s church, evangelism has been largely forgotten since the days of Bold Mission Thrust, Evangelism Explosion, and the Moral Majority. Today, evangelical identifies persons associated with the Religious Right branch of the Republican Party rather than one who seeks to share the Gospel with the world, seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Baptists in particular have been derogatorily painted as radical evangelicals, an epithet of contempt.
Reaching the world for Christ remains our eternal mission. How to reach the world, remains the seemingly eternal question. Whether through movies such as Mel Gibson’s “The Christ,” video games and special nights to play at church, including the violent alien killing Halo series, door knocking Evangelism Explosion training, mission trips individually or with a group, perhaps Bill Hybels is onto something when he writes the simplistic first step is to Just Walk Across the Room. After that, Hybels affirms the Holy Spirit is responsible. With simple stories and an eleven-week lesson format, Hybels details the little actions that may indeed lead to salvation for a friend or even a stranger. Don’t be fooled, however, by the simple plan. After making eternal salvation graciously easy to share, Hybels adds more meaty chapters. By providing the depth necessary to assist laymen in confronting objections of the unsaved, Hybels adds challenges for the soul of even the most schooled evangelist.
Would not all churches like to establish a program to identify and convert the lost? By considering the simple study questions following each chapter, readers can identify their own evangelistic experience thereby allowing greater comfort at following His leading. Further, by exploring situations in everyday life giving rise to evangelistic opportunities, Hybels guides the readers to deepen their spiritual vision.
Known primarily as Pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church, Bill Hybels has written or co-written more than forty books. If you take the time to read just one, make it Just Walk Across the Room. Perhaps you too will discover why Willow Creek is the second largest church in America.
