What would happen if we honestly just loved people without an agenda?
What would life be like if we had an authentic interest in someone else as a person? This is my new strategy: Love people from the heart and do everything I can to bring out the best in them. It is a pretty radical idea, but I think it just might work.
Note: This is an excerpt from chapter 7 of the revised and expanded Heavy Rain book. My friend, Johnny Enlow, wrote a blog on this chapter, called “Mr.Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” Check it out:
In Kris Vallotton’s book, Heavy Rain, I was drawn to his as-usual unique and astute observations in Chapter 7, “Mr.Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” While covering several related topics, the overriding observation was the superior effectiveness of inside-out dynamics and the urgent need for believers to get on board with this. His observation was that the coming down of the Iron Curtain was ultimately more a byproduct of the heart of people having reached a tipping point than Ronald Reagan’s famous exclamation, “Mr.Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” His statement detonated what was already bursting inside the hearts of the communist people.
Kris effectively points out that our general communication style as believers must advance to at least match the shrewdness of those often promoting anti-kingdom concepts. Perhaps the sentence that impacted me the most was, “The elements required for true transformation inside people are that they must be exposed to new ideas, and they must like the messenger, as well as value the message.”
His point was particularly established through his example of the Beatles’ phenomenon of the 1960s. The freshness of their look and their music caused people to awaken to the philosophical underpinnings their music carried. It obviously connected to what was already rumbling in the hearts of men and women.
Perhaps some might say their immense popularity may have even caused people to give vent to what was only passively in their hearts. This phenomenon attests to the power of a likable messenger.
I am convinced that our greatest weakness as the church has been the unlikability of our messengers, though that is changing with popular voices such as TD Jakes and Joel Osteen. We are not so good at even the presentation of what should be brilliant ideas, but beyond that the messenger-distaste factor cannot be overstated.
Perhaps now as the Holy Spirit pours out His heavy rain on us, we will arise with fresh branding and insights on the brilliance of our awesome King and His equally brilliant and exciting kingdom. He is worthy of nothing less than that. Surely this time our forthcoming ideas and our new breed of messengers will outdo even the Beatles. {eoa}
Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of RISE, are social reformers at heart, as well as international speakers and authors of The Seven Mountain Renaissance, The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, and Rainbow God. As ones focused on the reformation of the seven primary areas of culture, they are spiritual mentors to many in Media, Arts and Entertainment, Government, Family, Religion, Economy and Education. Their passion is to awaken our generation to the reality of the God of all of life, who not only cares for our souls, but also has practical solutions to offer through His sons and daughters for every problem that exists in society. For more information, see JohnnyandElizabeth.com.
For the original article, visit krisvallotton.com.
Charisma Staff 
Larry Tomczak 
Bill Wiese 
