I had an opportunity this past Tuesday night to speak at an FCA huddle in LaPorte, IN.  While I did not enjoy watching my gas gauge slowly slide lower and lower towards the red line, I knew upon arrival that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.  I've spoken at this huddle before, but the last time I was there, I was also a Notre Dame football player.  Needless to say, there wasn't as big a turnout this past Tuesday.  Looking back to the time I'd been there before, I was asked to speak on my career, and how Christ influenced my life decisions.  This past Tuesday, I was there to preach.  A lot had changed in the presentation to this FCA huddle, but one thing was to remain consistent, and that was the constant glorifying of God.  We learned together the importance of our faith in the salvation of those we attempt to disciple.

In Mark 2, there is a glorious account of Jesus' return to Capernaum.  It tells of the masses flocking to the house at which he was staying, and how he sat in the house and taught.  It also accounts for four men, which fought against the flow of the crowd, not running to Jesus at first, but rather running to grab a friend who wasn't going to get to the house on his own.  These four men picked up a bed carrying a paralytic, and carried it to the house where Jesus was teaching.  Unable to get inside the door, they carried him to the rooftop (a feat in itself), and proceeded to tear a hole in the roof to lower the paralytic and his bed down before the seat of Christ.

There is great importance in this story to these four men.  As a contrarian myself, I love the picture it paints when you think that they didn't up and run to Jesus for their own benefit like so many others.  Sure they had problems, though none were listed, but they had the foresight to get the man who couldn't make it there himself.  They went to get the man who was stuck.  You see, there are people all around and in our lives who are stuck, but how many of us will go against the waves of the crowd to help them get moving again?  Beyond getting this man mobile, look what else these men did.  They brought the man to the house where Jesus was teaching.  Have you ever tried to get a non-believer on the grounds of a church?  Even if there's a football tournament outside on the lawn, it is extremely difficult to get people to even consider being around a place of God.  These men brought the paralytic to not only a house of God, but a house with God present in Jesus!!!  Furthermore, they did everything possible to get this man inside.

I've been blessed over the past few years, to see many people give their lives to Christ.  That said, I am often skeptical of new believers who don't find themselves in church very quickly.  Seeing these men so dedicated to getting this bed-ridden man inside the house challenges me in my evangelism to not only speak out for the name of Christ, but invite, invite, invite people to join me at church as well.

The last part of this story should be the most impactful in our lives.  After the four men lowered the paralytic down before the seat of Christ, Jesus forgave the sins of the man.  But unlike several other times throughout the gospels, Jesus, looking at the faith of the four men and seeing their faith, blessed the paralytic and forgave his sins.  Put yourself in the shoes of one of those four men.  Tired and sweaty from carrying a man through town, you are standing on this roof, peaking down through the hole that you made in the roof.  God himself looks up from inside and after inspecting your heart and faith, he is going to do something...

If you're on that roof, and he sees your faith, will he forgive the sinner?

Far too often, we say with our mouths that Christ wants to save the lost, but we don't believe it so much that we are spurred into action.  We don't go to where they are and bring them to the Father.  We don't do everything we can to get them inside.  And if the Lord called us out and asked, do you really believe, far too often the answer wouldn't be what it should.

Challenged myself,

Bob