But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. [Acts 1:8 (NLT)]
“We will do anything short of sin to reach those who don’t know Christ,” was frequently said by the pastor of the mountain church at which we worshiped during our Colorado winters. His passionate words reflect the sort of zeal that mountain church has for reaching the unreached.
In Mark’s gospel, we find four men willing to do anything (short of sin) to bring someone to Christ. Jesus was in Capernaum where he previously healed the sick and demon-possessed. Upon hearing the news that Jesus had returned, these four men placed their paralyzed friend on a mat and carried him to the house where the Lord was preaching. Unfortunately, but the house was so mobbed that they couldn’t even get in the door! Unwilling to let a crowd of people keep their sick friend from Jesus, the men carried him up to the roof. While they didn’t sin, I’m not so sure they didn’t break the law when they dug up the thatch and dry mud, removed the tiles, and made a hole in the roof through which they lowered their paralyzed friend to Jesus’ feet.
Timothy certainly went “the extra mile” when the young man underwent circumcision just to become a more effective evangelist to the Jews. In obedience to the Spirit’s direction to go south to the Gaza road, Philip actually walked an extra 42 miles before even getting to that desert road and finally meeting the Ethiopian! His miles, however, pale in comparison to Paul’s! New Testament scholar Dr. Eckhard Schnabel estimates that Paul logged over 15,500 evangelism miles before arriving in Rome in 60 AD. 6,800 of those miles were by sea and another 8,700 were on land (presumably done on foot). Along with the blisters and callouses resulting from all that walking, Paul endured things like imprisonment, shipwrecks, being adrift at sea, whippings, beatings, imprisonment, and being stoned along with bandits, hunger, thirst, bad weather, and attacks from Jews, Gentiles, and false believers. Nevertheless, even when imprisoned, the Apostle relentlessly continued to spread the gospel of Christ in his letters.
Even after Herod ordered James’ death “by sword,” the first believers never stopped doing all they could to bring people to Christ. When Stephen was called before the high council, he knew his words would provoke them. Nevertheless, he courageously witnessed for Jesus until his last breath. Although Peter and John were beaten, imprisoned, and told to stop preaching, they continued to lead people to Jesus. The early church was determined to bring people to the Lord.
Jesus gave us a “great” commission (not a small one) when he told us to go into the world and preach the good news of God’s grace and love. Rather than a suggestion, that was an order and meant to be obeyed! When fulfilling His command, we’re not likely to endure things like circumcision, beatings, imprisonment, bandits, shipwreck, breaking through rooftops, or martyrdom. We don’t have to log over 15,000 travel miles or even walk 42 miles out of the way. Philip didn’t go far to bring Nathanael to the Lord and the woman at the well just ran back into town to bring people to Jesus!
The first believers were willing to do whatever it took to bring people to the Lord. Are today’s believers willing to do the same? Are we willing to leave our own personal comfort zone to bring light into darkness? Great things happened when Andrew invited his brother (Simon Peter) to meet Jesus. Are we even willing to ask our neighbors to church?
Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus. [D. Elton Trueblood]
Devotions of the Heart 