And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “ Son, your sins are forgiven.
I am a big fan of making it as easy as possible for someone to get to church, bring their family, and hear the gospel. At the same time, the picture of “seekers” in the New Testament is a bit different that we might think from the impression we get from some church growth experts today. If someone wants to get to Jesus, they will. When they understand their need for a savior to die for their sins, you won’t be able to keep them away. Jesus didn’t follow the 80% rule to be sure that there was always an empty chair… and yet these 4 friends would not let anything stop them, they were getting to Jesus. I’m not sure that Jesus came to visit them after the service, and yet the paralyzed man still went away with his sins forgiven. We do the best we can, we work to make sure people are as comfortable as possible with everything but the gospel so that if they stumble on anything, it’s the cross… but at the end of the day, you are not going to be the one who has kept them from Jesus.
Do your best to reach as many as possible, but the harvest is the Lord’s. Rest in him.
