SERIES: IT: Finding It, Keeping It, and Sharing It
(freely adapted from Craig Groeschel’s It: How Churches and Leadesr Can Get it and Keep it)
“YOU WANT OTHERS TO HAVE IT”
MARK 2:1-12
OPEN
We continue on this morning in our series: IT: Finding It, Keeping It, and Sharing It. The first message was “What is it?” We defined it this way – “It is what God does through a rare combination of certain qualities found in his people.” Those qualities are: 1. A passion for his presence 2. A deep craving to reach the lost 3. Sincere integrity 4. Spirit-filled faith 5. Down-to-earth humility 6. Brokenness.
Our second message began a study of the traits that marked churches that had it and for us to learn how we can develop those traits in our congregation The first trait was a God-given, God-breathed vision and we said that “You Can See It Clearly.” The second trait was the importance of teamwork and we said that “We Experience It Together.” The third trait was innovation and we said “You’ll Do Anything For It.” Our message today is about sharing the gospel because ‘You Want Others to Have It.”
I would submit to you this morning a controversial proposition. Here it is: People today aren’t rejecting Christ so much as they’re rejecting the church.
I’ve talked to hundreds of people over the years about why they don’t come to church. I think all of those encounters are summed up in one man’s response to the question, “Why don’t you come to church?” Without hesitation, he responded, “Because I’ve already been.” He came. It didn’t happen. So he never came back.
Have you ever visited a church and been overlooked? It makes you feel incredibly awkward, uncomfortable, and unwanted. What’s odd is that churches that appear unfriendly to outsiders can be full of the friendliest people in the world – if you’re and insider.
Churches without it are often very friendly. In fact, they can be so tight, so bonded, so close – to each other – that they unintentionally overlook those they don’t really know.
On the other hand, churches with it remember that Jesus came for the outsiders. He came for those who were lost, broken, hurting, disenfranchised, alone, overlooked, poor. Jesus came for those whom religion had rejected.
Many churches unwittingly focus inward and forget those who are the very purpose for Jesus’ coming and the very purpose for the church on earth. These churches are like a hospital which no longer accepts patients. Or a soup kitchen which no longer feeds hungry people.
Across the board, every church that has it is obsessed with reaching people who don’t know Christ. They have a passion to share Christ that consumes them in a beautiful way. Churches that lack it can be filled with people who know Bible facts inside and out. Unfortunately, they’re more concerned with themselves than they are the lost.
One time a teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Out of all the commandments, what is the most important one?” Jesus replied in Mk. 12:30-31 – “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
So one big question for you to answer is, “Who do you love?” If you love God, you should love people. If you don’t love people, then you don’t love God. We’re quite comfortable loving those who are like us, but we’re also called to love those who aren’t like us.
And when we love deeply, love makes us do things we wouldn’t otherwise do. I’m a cheapskate. But if I
take my wife out on a date, I’ll spend money. Why? Because I love her. Do you love people who don’t know Christ? Those that have it do – and they do so deeply.
There are many so-called Christians who don’t. You don’t have to look very far to find churches that have people who are insulating themselves from the world. Their hunkering down avoiding any movies rated PG-13 and above. They won’t listen to secular music and some won’t even listen to the contemporary Christian music. They’re afraid of MTV. They keep their distance from anyone who drinks beer, cusses after a bad golf swing, smokes anything, has a tattoo or wears jeans that have holes in them. They steer clear of homosexuals. And they stare disapprovingly at purple hair and mohawks. Too many so-called Christians are avoiding “those kind of people.” And they’ve forgotten that Jesus came for that kind of person.
Do you love those who are without Christ? Be honest with yourself this morning. Does our church have people whose hearts beat for those outside the family of God? Churches that have it care for each other and for people who are far from God. Churches without it care more about the sheep inside the fold than the goats outside of the church. And the lack of caring is communicated clearly.
What caused the good shepherd to leave the ninety-nine sheep that were safe to pursue the lost one? It was love. What made the father stand on the edge of town praying that his lost son would return home? It was love. What drove God to leave heaven to come to earth? Again, it was love. Jn. 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Let’s look together at an incident that happened during the early part of Jesus’ ministry that shows us some important lessons about loving others enough to do anything necessary to get them to Jesus. Mk. 2:1-12 – “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many
gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men
came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the
crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was
what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things? Which is
easier: to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat and walk? But that you
may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .’ He said to the paralytic, ‘I tell you,
get up, take your mat and go home.’ He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’”
RECOGNIZE THAT PEOPLE NEED JESUS
In Jesus’ day, people generally left their doors open during the day. An open door meant that anyone could
come in. In our passage this morning, Jesus has been traveling throughout Galilee preaching and healing. He returns to his home base of Capernaum and begins to teach inside a house with an open door. People began to pack the house like sardines and they overflowed out into the street. (Jesus could have gone to two services or started a second campus. But hey, I wasn’t there to advise him on the matter.)
There were at least four guys in this crowd got it. They had a friend who was paralyzed. Their friend desperately needed Jesus. They didn’t come to the house to get Jesus to sign their “Jesus is my homeboy” T-shirts. They were on a mission to get their friend to Christ.
Now what about the rest of the crowd? Some of them were probably very sincere in their desire to hear Jesus. Others we know were skeptical and were hoping that they could prove that Jesus was a fake. Even though most of the crowd hung onto Jesus’ words, most of them kissed the heart of his message: Jesus came for the sick and not the healthy.
You see, for the crowd, the meeting was about them. What could they get? What could they learn? What could Jesus offer them? Churches without it are filled with people with similar attitudes. They wonder why the worship leader picks out songs that they don’t like and doesn’t fit their taste. They get upset when something new is introduced because “we’ve never done it that way before.” If the preacher brings a message that doesn’t necessarily apply to them at the current time, they complain that their not getting fed. If the order of service is moved around, they say that things are unsettling. Erwin McManus asked, “When have we forgotten that the church doesn’t exist for us? We are the church and we exist for the world.”
If a church becomes focused on the already-convinced, I will bet that church doesn’t have it. They’re not likely to see many, if any, conversions. Baptisms are few and far between. Membership classes are tine, if not non-existent. There is experience of great works of the Spirit of God. New people aren’t coming and staying. Long-time members aren’t growing. Things may be stable, but they’re stagnant. There is no forward movement.
We look at these men who cared passionately about getting their friend to Jesus and can learn some lessons. The first lesson is that to have it, we have to care about those who are far from God.
Do you care about those who are without Christ? Before you give me some programmed answer, you need to honestly answer some questions: 1. When was the last time you’ve had a lost person in your home? (You can’t count service people or delivery people.) .2. How many meaningful conversations did you have with non-Christians this week? 3. Who are the non-believers you prayed for today? If you can’t answer those questions with several names, chances are that you’re on the road to not caring. Or perhaps, you’ve already arrived and have settled in at that dangerous destination.
The trip to “not caring” is a slow slide. Most Christians don’t wake up one morning and declare, “I’ve decided not to care about the lost anymore.” That attitude creeps in over time. After being a Christian for a few years, we don’t have much in common with non-Christians so we don’t typically develop quality relationships with them. It’s only after time passes that many Christians realize they have almost no relationship with unbelievers.
If that declaration describes you this morning, ask God to increase your heart for those without Christ. He will. And before long, God will send you someone – maybe a bunch of someones – whom you will care about. Your love for them will increase. When that happens, you get it, and it’s almost impossible to turn off. Your prayer life increases. You’re looking for opportunities to shift conversations toward spiritual things. You become ever aware that you are representing Christ. When you have it, people tend to want it. Your passion for Christ is contagious.
Many churches, whether intentionally or unintentionally, turn their backs on those who need Jesus the most. We become focused inward. We do our Bible studies. We listen to our favorite Christian music. We speak our Christianese: “Praise God, brothers and sisters, that I’m blood-bought, sanctified, Spirit-filled, and glory bound!” But we’re ignoring those who need him the most and by doing that we’re basically saying to those who need him most, “You can just go to hell.”
The men in this story who brought their friend to Jesus recognized that he needed Jesus more than anything. Sadly, a lot of Christians have forgotten what the lost really need. They really need Jesus.
Here is a scenario I have faced many times over the years. I’m called to do a funeral for a family member of someone who belongs to the church I serve. I did not personally know the individual so I ask about their deceased loved one. The family looks awkwardly around the room at each other, they shift back and forth in their chairs, and then someone says something to this affect: “Well, Uncle John wasn’t much of a churchgoer. He wasn’t very religious. But besides his gambling and drinking, he was a pretty good ol’ fella. We know he’s in a better place.”
We want to believe that people we love never go to hell. We can always talk ourselves into believing people are better off now that they’re dead, and it lessens our urgency to reach those without Christ.
UNDERSTAND IT TAKES A TEAM EFFORT TO GET THEM TO JESUS
It took at least four different people to get the man in our Bible passage to Jesus. Vs. 3 actually says, “Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.” From the way things are worded, there were more than four men involved in the process. It took four of them to carry him.
Churches that have it recognize that reaching people for Christ is a team effort. It’s not just the preacher’s job. It’s everyone’s job. I can do it alone. You can’t do it alone. It takes all of us to get the job done.
1 Cor. 3:6 – “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” We have to remember: we do our part, others do their part, and God does his. We’re never the answer; Jesus always is.
Churches without it are afraid to ask people to follow Christ. They’re afraid no one will respond. Don’t be afraid to fail. I like what Craig Groeschel tells young ministers: “You don’t fail if the Spirit prompts you to ask someone to follow Christ and the person doesn’t. You fail when the Spirit prompts you but you’re afraid to ask.”
The same is true for anyone. Don’t blame yourself if someone rejects Jesus. If you do, you’re putting yourself in God’s place. There is also a flip side – the temptation to take credit when someone accepts Jesus.
Outreach is a team event. You’re just part of the team. Your position might be the pray-er. You might be the conversationalist. You might simply be the demonstrator – the one who shows the love of Jesus by what you do. God might put you in for the first quarter and then bench you while others perform their specialties. You do your part. Let others do theirs. And then watch God do his.
DETERMINE TO DO EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO GET THEM TO JESUS
The friends of this paralyzed man were determined to do everything necessary to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. As they came to the house, they saw the size of the crowd and knew they couldn’t get their friend through the door. What could they do?
Most of the common homes in Jesus’ day had flat roofs. There was usually some stairs or even more commonly a ladder outside that led to the roof. The beams for the roof were generally set about three feet apart. The gaps between the beams were covered with brush and clay and packed with manure. You heard me right … manure.
Get the scene in your mind. Jesus is teaching. He’s in the flow. He’s movin’ with the Spirit. Pieces of, well, ceiling matter begins to fall on his head and his face. The ceiling starts to cave in. And suddenly, the light of the sun explodes through a big hole. It silhouettes the paralyzed man’s friends leaning over and staring down at everyone. Jesus probably laughed with delight. The homeowner probably wasn’t very happy.
These guys were willing to bust through any barriers to get their friend to Jesus. Churches that have it are filled with people with a sincere desire to win the lost. And they don’t let any excuse stop them. Crowd blocking the way? No problem. They’ll go over, under, around or through it. They’ll cut through the crap.
Some of you are probably upset that I just used that word. Let me ask you this - are you more upset that I used that word than you are that people are lost, dying, and going to hell? I just wonder.
For our church to have it, we have to shift to an outward evangelistic focus. It’s essential. That means we can’t survive without it.
What does it take for us to see people come to Christ? Very simply, it takes three things. The first thing it takes is people who don’t know Christ. We need to have people who are far from God coming to church. If people far from God aren’t coming to our church, we need to identify why.
Some reasons why we don’t have lost people coming to church: 1. Our people don’t have relationships with the lost. 2. Our people are too embarrassed to bring their friend and family to church . 3. Our building or our people are subtly communicating to people far from God “Stay away!” We need to do everything we can to make our congregation a places the welcomes those who don’t know Christ.
The second thing it takes for us to see people come to Christ is a clear presentation of Jesus’ story. We need to make sure that we communicate our love for lost people but we also have to clearly teach more than a self-help gospel. There has to be an offering of simultaneous comfort and confrontation.
John 1:14 says that Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” Our ministry needs to reflect these same qualities. At the same moment we are welcoming someone with a comfortable environment and friendly people, we want to confront them lovingly with the truth. If someone doesn’t recognize his/her sin, they’ll never crave a savior.
The third thing it takes for us to see people come to Christ is real faith. If you don’t really believe in the power of Christ to change a life, people will know. But the opposite is true as well. If you believe with every fiber of your being that Christ can and will transform a life, people will sense it, feel it, and maye believe it as well.
In the movie, The Guardian, there is a veteran rescue diver played by Kevin Costner. He’s in the Coast Guard and he has spent his career going after people in danger in the ocean. He holds the record for number of saves. He has been teaching other Coast Guard personnel how to do the same thing but he’s now ready to retire.
At the end of the movie, there is a hot-shot up-and-coming diver who asks Costner’s character, “What’s your number?” He wants to know how many rescues the record-holder carries. The young, competitive diver is assuming he’ll hear two or three hundred rescues.
Costner’s character answers, “What’s my number? My number is twenty-two.”
The young guy is surprised. With great disappointment he says, “Twenty-two. I thought you’d saved many more than that.”
The veteran looks back over his shoulder and says, “Twenty-two is the number of people that I lost. That’s the only number I ever counted.”
Instead of focusing on how may people we’ve seen saved, churches that have it realize how many more people God wants to reach. Curry R. Blake said, “If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.”
CLOSE
When they got their friend to Jesus, Jesus forgave the man of his sins. He did that before he healed the man of his paralysis. Why? Because the man needed his sins forgiven more than he needed to be healed from paralysis. Even with critics present, Jesus proved he had the power to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, “‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ And then scripture tells us, “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’” We’ll know that our church has it when people start talking like the people in this story. They tell everyone, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
