I can’t help but think about the fact that Jesus came to reach us, to save us, at an incredible cost.

He left His position of royalty and privilege, and walked in the midst of our crazy, jacked up, noisy and hurting world. He cashed in all His chips and invested everything He had, including His life, to serve us … to save us … to LOVE us! Jesus surrounded himself with people who looked different, sounded different, lived different and even believed different. To me that is incredible!

Today, many of us call ourselves Christians, or Jesus Followers. The idea behind those terms is that we are supposedly imitators, emulators, of Jesus. It means we surround ourselves with people the way Jesus did.

In my opinion, it means we are dedicated to serving and loving others at any cost! The cost to us may be financial, it may be our time, it could be our reputation, our comfort level and for a select few … our lives!

I pose a question to you … Are you willing to give whatever it takes to reach, serve and love people who desperately need Jesus?

Are you willing to be with people who are not like you? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to step outside of your talents, and let God equip you for reaching a hurting and dying world? Are you willing to surround yourself with people who need the hope, forgiveness and love you have found through Jesus?

I work hard every day to answer yes to these question. In reality … some days I fail! But, I take seriously the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 9 when he says, “I have become all things to all people so that I might win a few …” I want to be willing to place myself in the paths of people who are not like me on the outside … but in reality are just like me on the inside … broken, hurting and in need of love! The reality is, this isn’t easy!

At Uncommon Church we are working hard to make this a reality for our church, and for our people. We are getting creative in opening venues and finding venues to meet people right where they are in life! We are going to extremes to put ourselves in the paths of people who, like us, need what Jesus has to offer.

We are spending time in the local hangouts, arts venues, bars (yes I said bars!), coffee shops, business gatherings and more. We are creating things like our very own CrossFit franchise called UNfit to invite people to interact. And … later this year we are even opening a tattoo shop to dig deeper into the lives of people … Why??? We do it to connect, to have conversations and ultimately to be able to share Jesus with people who would never set foot inside a church.

What is it you are willing to do to reach people? Are you sitting and waiting for someone to cross your path … or are you going out and crossing theirs?

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