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JACKSON, Tenn. — April 18, 2018 — Bob Goff, New York Times bestselling author of “Love Does,” kept a sold-out crowd of more than 400 people laughing April 17 in the Carl Grant Events Center as part of the 51���� Auxiliary’s event, “An Evening with Bob Goff.”

With his witty jokes and engaging personal stories, Goff kept the night lighthearted and entertaining while teaching how to live a life that is defined by love, connection and purpose.

He challenged the crowd to strive for meaningful conversations every day to act as a connection with the “creepy people” in their lives. Through meaningful conversations with those who are hardest to talk to, Goff said, Jesus Christ will be seen.

“The most orthodox faith a person can have is to love everybody, always,” Goff said.

The event raised money for student scholarships. Susie Oliver, president of the Union Auxiliary, described the evening as “magical.”

“If we all had meaningful conversations with people around us and love without expectations, we could change the world,” Oliver said. “I was overjoyed to see so many friends from the community, faculty, staff and students in the Grant Center supporting the mission of the Union Auxiliary.”

Goff shared a conviction that led him to realize how faith in Christ is expressed through love. If a Christian’s life is striving to look like Jesus, then it must be characterized by love for all people, at all times.

“I spent my whole life avoiding the people Jesus spent his whole life engaging,” Goff said. “What if we take in people that we have been avoiding and give them our very best?”

It can sometimes be a difficult task to reach out a hand and to love others, but Goff stressed the significance of having faith in the uncomfortable moments. Those vulnerable moments, Goff said, are the moments that God can get through to people the most.

“Comfortable people don’t need Jesus,” Goff said. “Desperate people need Jesus.”

Goff said God wants Christians to get more desperate for him, and that is impossible to find in a comfortable place. Showing love can be daunting and seen as an insolvable math equation, but Goff shared that it can be as simple as having a conversation with a classmate, neighbor, co-worker or family member.

“Here’s the deal. Jesus isn’t dazzled when you go across an ocean,” Goff said. “He’s wowed when you go across the street.”

He ended the night by sharing the story of a boy who painted a beautiful picture for Goff by simply using a spear and a bed sheet. Those two items were the only painting supplies the boy owned, yet he still created a masterpiece with it.

In the same way that the boy used what he already had to paint the gift, Goff said Christians should use what opportunities, jobs and situations they have right now to show Christ’s love to others, and then see the ways God will use them.