One At a Time: The Unexpected Way . . . (BakerBooks, 2022)
Kyle Idleman’s latest book is One At a Time: The Unexpected Way God Wants to Use You to Change the World. Kyle currently serves Southeastern Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, as lead pastor. Because Jesus wants to use us to make a difference one at a time, we need to lean into the unexpected ways God wants to use us. Most significantly, Pastor Idleman observes, Jesus did life with a zoom lens. He focused on the person in front of Him. And doing what Jesus did begins with seeing what Jesus saw – God’s children. Furthermore, the work God does in you leads to the work God does through you. An in then through approach. When you attend to the work God wants to do in you, He’ll always do something through you.
As a result, God puts you in close proximity to people far from Him and gives you divine appointments to share Jesus with them. Above all, when your gut instinct tells you to run, sometimes Jesus tells you to run toward. For Christians, compassion must function as both a noun and a verb. Hence, compassion begins with eyes-open prayer. In addition, a single act of compassion creates a ripple effect and overflows to others. When you align your life and relationships with Jesus’s ways of treating people, you will be blessed. And you will make a difference. Even when people mistreat you and take advantage of you, that provides an opportunity to love and live like Jesus. So, even if people mistake your compassion for condoning, continue to offer them compassion and grace.
Crowds sought out Jesus because He exuded joy. However, Kyle believes, too often Christians stay in the comfort of their Christian bubble – avoiding awkward situations. Yet, words carry the secret to impacting one person at a time. To live and love like Jesus, we need to understand that words possess the power of life and death. Consequently, we must choose our words carefully. The words spoken to us create our worlds, and with our words we create the world around us. Therefore, speak God’s Word out loud the first thing in the morning. Because that impacts the words that come out of your mouth the rest of the day.
In conclusion, Pastor Idleman underscores, what Jesus’s heart felt, His hand touched. Thus, loving someone not deserving of love from you may be the most impactful thing you can do. Since Christians want everyone to get close to God, we need to seek out those far from God. And as Christ’s love compels you to seek out opportunities, you’ll have more conversations. With every question you ask, the relationship deepens. It becomes easier to talk about the deeper things of God. In the process, you minister through conversation one at a time. Finally, one-on-one time with God supplies what you need to impact and love others one at a time. Trust God with the results!
