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Several weeks ago we began a series of messages that explores effective ways we can do evangelism. We asked the question: what if evangelism really were as simple and straightforward as just walking across a room? The first week I reminded you that the single greatest gift you can offer people is an introduction to their Creator…God Himself. We talked about leaving our circles of comfort and entering the zone of the unknown.

Then we talked about living in 3D: develop friendships, discover stories, discern next steps. This framework reminds us to take things slow with people and to make sure that we're allowing the Holy Spirit to do the prompting. Last week we talked about God's story and our own before-after story and how we need to know how to tell both very well. Today we will talk about Grander Vision Living.

Let me go ahead and plant a seed about what will happen for the next two weeks. Next week Kenny will preach and motivate us to invite our unchurched friends to join us on the following week. On November 11, I will preach a very simple gospel message and challenge people to come to Christ. This is the Sunday above all Sundays that I encourage you to get your friends here. On that day some will be saved. Could it be your friend, neighbor, or family member?

Use your imagination with me. You have just won an all-expense-paid vacation to the Bahamas. Upon your arrival you're ready to go snorkeling. You're all decked out in your mask, fins, water socks and swimsuit which fits you perfectly. (Remember, we're using our imagination.)

The boat driver takes you out to a good spot. It's 75 degrees, sunny with a few floating clouds overhead. You jump into the water and float around. You're there to snorkel, but you're enjoying the relaxation of the coolness of the water, the gentle movement of the waves, and the warmth of the sun. Is there anything wrong with this picture? Not at all. All sounds pretty good to me.

But what if I were to tell you that just under the water's surface you were missing out on an unbelievable universe of activity? So you position your mask, cup your lips around the breathing tube, roll onto your belly, dip your face into the water, and start kicking.

Where did all these fish come from? Why didn't I feel them since they were so close to me all the time? Is that a barracuda? Man, look at that huge school of blue and neon yellow angelfish. This is unreal. You look off in the distance and see two reef sharks sleeking along. The bright gold reef below you looks like it's waving as its fingers reach up from the ocean floor.

You pop back up, lifting your face above the water to take in the ocean's surface again. The contrast is baffling. Above the surface, all is still. Surprisingly at ease. You dip your head back under the water…activity…movement…vibrancy. Back up—serene. Back under—colorful complexity. So if you had to choose, which is the better view?

There is much more to life than what appears on the surface. There is a grander vision. Since we're already at the sea, let's look at a biblical fish story that might shed light on what I'm talking about. It's found in Luke 5:1-11. I will read it from The Message Bible. After dissecting the story, I want to offer you two observations and an exhortation. Fair enough? Let's read. [slides 2-6]

Can you imagine how elated Peter, James, and John were because of this monstrous catch of fish? They'd never seen anything like it. Their nets were bursting. The boat was sinking. When is the last time you had to call in reinforcements to help you carry the fish? Quite a red-letter day for a few career fishermen, wouldn't you say? [slide 7, campaign slide]

Jesus is probably laughing at their struggle to get all the fish to shore. After finally getting their attention, He says, "Hey, guys, you think that netting a mother lode of scaly, underwater creatures was fun? Think a grander thought with Me for a moment. What if you could multiply the fun factor you just experienced by a thousand? Nothing wrong with catching fish. But what if you could change a few destinies? I'm inviting you to become fishers of men and women. Instead of spending your precious time catching six-inch fish, let's go after the six-footers. I'm asking you to give up everything you have for the sake of people's souls. Come with me, and I will show you what real living is all about."

Today, Jesus gives the same challenge to fishermen, businessmen, athletes, stay-at-home moms or dads, bus drivers, singers, retail managers, teachers, waitresses, administrative assistants, and everyone else. He asks this one question: "Are you going to throw your one and only life into pursuing small fish, or will you risk tossing your nets out there in anticipation of catching the human-sized ones? Will you give your life for the Grander Vision? Or will you settle for the lesser one?" Here is the first observation I want to make. [slide 8] The priority is people. Jesus wanted Peter, James, and John to understand that this life is all about people. He wanted them to prioritize people above everything else. That's what this "Just Walk across the Room" is all about. Taking walks across rooms…for people. Caring more about people than yourself. Radically including people—even if they look different and act different from you.

So Jesus asks all of us, "Are you willing to choose the Grander Vision?" You can catch fish…or become fishers of men and women. You can be a successful businessperson or get all over the business of redeeming lives. You can shine as a superstar salesman or care more about letting your light shine in the lives of those around you. You can be the top student or focus your attention on studying people.

In Matthew 5:16 [slide 9], Jesus said, "Let your light shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and then glorify your Father who is in heaven." Notice the phrase "in such a way." That phrase suggests there must be more than one way to let your light shine. So Jesus is saying that we must choose whether or not our light will point people to God. Or will we keep our light to ourselves?

[slide 10, campaign] Your occupation is most likely a perfectly acceptable option for earning a decent living. But what Jesus is trying to teach us is that we should concern ourselves not by the dollars we can earn but by the destinies we can change. Why is He so convinced that living the Grander Vision is really the better option? Because this is the way His kingdom gets built. The way you treat people will serve either as a magnet that draws them to God or a deterrent to them ever coming to know God. You don't have to be more talented, smarter, or richer to partner with God. All you have to be is willing to be used by Him in everyday ways. When we start letting our lights shine, kingdom stuff starts exploding.

The Grander Vision is the way God's kingdom gets built. But the Grander Vision is also the way our souls get satisfied. When you make the Grander Vision your vision, you will never want to go back to floating on the smooth, serene surface of the ocean again. Pulling in your limit of stripers won't excite you as much anymore. You will no longer throw all your energy toward making a few more dollars because these things will no longer scratch the itch in your soul. Jesus knew that if you built your lifestyle around getting to know people and serving them…we would never crave the old ways again.

This video clip gives us some insight into how Bill Hybels thinks about this "people priority" in his own life. [video, week 4, 1:05]

"‘Never' just means ‘no' for now." That's a great perspective to have when doing the work of evangelism. And it leads to the second observation I want to make. The focus is on potential. [slide 11]

I'm always amazed when I ponder why Jesus picked these particular twelve men to follow Him. They were probably in their late teens, maybe early 20s. Some of them were fishermen by trade. I can imagine what was going on in their minds when they had caught nothing all night and yet Jesus had the gall to tell them to lower the net from the other side of the boat. These guys were not up for Disciple of the Year awards. But Jesus saw what these guys could be like once they chose to live the Grander Vision.

We need to look beyond someone's no or never and envision them submitting to Christ. Look past the self-centeredness and see the potential for servanthood. Look past the quick temper and see the potential for kingdom-building. Aren't you glad Christ did this with you? I know I am. He looked beyond the fears I had as a child, fears of loud fighting, cursing, and drunkenness, and saw potential in me…someone who could live with his head high and filled with joy and purpose.

I could list dozens of examples from my own life where God has refined me. The key is to let God do His work in people's lives instead of us becoming lifestyle referees for everyone we meet. We need to approach all people with the same eye for potential that God sees in them.

You and I probably would have never seen the potential in Matthew like Jesus did. In Luke 5, we learn that Jesus went out one day and saw a tax collector sitting at his tax booth. Most likely this guy was living far from God. Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." Matthew's buddies probably thought he had lost his mind. Why would a successful businessman ditch his career to follow a homeless rabbi? But Matthew would soon discover what Jesus already knew: choosing the Grander Vision leads to wealth that the world only wishes it could offer.

Matthew left everything, including his cash register, to follow Christ. He walked away from his business, his comfortable routine…not to mention his financial security. But it also meant that he would be prizing the very people he once swindled. He'd be looking for the potential good in them rather than ways he could exploit them. It was more than he could have ever imagined.

In those early days Matthew probably wasn't altogether sure what he'd gotten himself into. "I'm definitely going to live the Grander Vision," he probably thought. "Now I just wish I could figure out what that means." You can probably relate to those feelings. At the outset today I mentioned that I had two observations and an exhortation. Here is the exhortation: Start small…but start! [slide 12]

It's easy to say, "Yeah, I want to start living this Grander Vision life. But what's next? Matthew probably felt the same way. Here was a newly converted disciple of Jesus with a deep desire to expose Christ to his family and friends. He hadn't had time to go through the official Evangelism 101 course. He was too new to have memorized a bunch of verses and gospel presentations. But all of his old buddies were standing there in their tax-booths, the same spot where he used to work. Their lives would be so blessed by knowing Christ; but he had no idea how to get that introduction made. Something was tugging at his heart.

Just then it clicked with him. You won't believe what he decided to do. Yes, he decided to take a walk across the room. He was a new follower without a lot of skill. So he did what he knew how to do best. He threw a party. Some of you are breathing a sigh of relief. An approach to evangelism that involves partying?

It's true. He planned a party. But not just any party. A party where he could stick his old tax-collecting buddies in a room with his new friends—the Christian ones—and just see if some of the good stuff might rub off on the ones who had yet to embrace Christ. Maybe some of his new friends would break out of their circles of comfort, take a walk across the room, and engage in some spiritual conversations with his lost friends. And maybe some seeds could be planted. And maybe some of these friends would become Christ-followers. That would be amazing!

Matthew could have stayed in the nice confines of his circle of comfort. But he didn't. He chose to see the potential in his tax-collecting friends…the same way Jesus had miraculously spotted potential in him. He didn't have his act all together. But one thing he did have: the hope of heaven. And that's what compelled him to take action. Matthew knew that God saved him for a purpose…a purpose that included more than his own salvation. A purpose that included letting his light shine. A purpose that centered around living out a Grander Vision…by making people his priority and their potential his focus. A purpose that included taking walks across rooms…because people were the only thing he'd be taking with him to heaven one day.

There is a powerful story in the Just Walk across the Room book that really impacted me. A man was delivering a talk when he suddenly unfurled a roll of stickers in his hand. He said, "There is something we must all understand." Periodically, he would stop and put a red sticker on different objects on the platform—replicas of a house, car, desk. Each red sticker had a single word printed on it: TEMPORARY. He remarked that everything he was putting a sticker on was temporary. They will fade away when this world ends. "If you are living for these things, then you are living a life of temporary pleasure and temporary fulfillment."

The audience got silent as he labeled everything in sight with red stickers. The man's hands declared the fate of the very best this world has to offer as those stickers made their way to the goods in front of everyone. [slide 13: temporary. Let the slide build as I read the next line.]

Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary.

There is only one thing in this room that is not temporary. There is only one thing you can take with you into the next world. The speaker called someone to join him on the stage, and he placed a blue sticker on her lapel. "When you get to the end of your life and take in your last breath, what do you want your life to have been about?" It's all about people.

No earthly commodity is going to make it from this world into the next. Not land, not homes, not bank accounts, not titles, not achievements. Only souls. Michael Cathey sat in my office this week, close to tears, to tell me that his grandparents' vacation home, the place they built with their own hands, the place where their family spent every Christmas, the place filled with many family memories…burned to the ground in the ravaging wildfires in California. As crushed as they are, they recognize that it's just stuff…all temporary.

Jesus taught that every human being will be resurrected to spend eternity with God in heaven or in isolation from God in hell. And because Jesus believed in these realities to the core of His being, He focused His attention on the only entity that would extend into the next reality: people.

I don't know what the final assessment of my life will be once I am gone. But I know this much: my quest while I am here is to seek people out and point them toward faith in God. I've been at life long enough to know that to invest myself in anything other than people is to settle for a pursuit of a Lesser Vision. Will you opt into Grander Vision Living or will you settle for your lesser visions?

Are you ready to dip your mask into the water and catch a glimpse of this exciting world? Then do what Matthew did. Why not throw a party? Seriously. Why not sometime in the next thirty days throw a party? Put a few of your Christ-following friends in a space with some of your unconvinced friends. And then trust God with the results. It doesn't need to be elaborate or expensive. And don't have so many Christian friends over that the others feel ganged up on. Do what makes sense to you. Block party. Friends from work. Parents of your children's friends. Next Saturday, Anita and I are throwing an engagement party for Kevin and Erin. Who knows what kind of conversations that gathering may produce? One of our members has been doing a Monday night football gathering for men in his subdivision. Excellent idea!

[slide 14] Here's my promise to you: once you dig into people's lives, trusting the Holy Spirit to navigate every turn, every maneuver—once you start living the Grander Vision—you will never go back to lesser fish and lesser visions again.