Why on earth does God choose to use people to reach people? If I were God, I wouldn't use people. I would just do the job myself.

If I were God, I would roll the heavens away, poke my face through and say, "Hello, humanity. I am God. Believe in me now, or I will kill you." Aren't you glad that I am not God? At the very least, if I were God, I would raise up an army of mighty angels to preach the Gospel. Wouldn't that be powerful? I would never use people; they are flawed. They make mistakes. They fall short. They are inconsistent. Sometimes they contradict what they say by the way they live.

But God, in His great wisdom, has chosen to use people to reach people. Jesus has given us our marching orders. He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV). This is not optional. It is the Great Commission, not the great suggestion.

In order to be effective in sharing our faith, we need a burden for those who do not know the Lord. Jesus showed us that we are to go outside of our comfort zone and reach people of all backgrounds. He went to the woman at the well in Samaria. In Jesus' day, not only would a rabbi not talk to a woman, but a Jew would never talk to a Samaritan. If you add the fact that the woman was immoral, she had three strikes against her.

But Jesus spoke to this immoral Samaritan woman. He engaged her in conversation and reached out to her in love. He was showing us that we need to go to all people, whatever they look like, whatever their race, whatever their background, whatever their socio-economic status. All of the messages on evangelism and all of the training classes you can go to will mean nothing if you lack this simple prerequisite: A burden.

Do you really care about lost people? We have to care and reach out to these people, even if it means going out of our comfort zone. Even if it means getting extreme.

Some time ago, we were in Hawaii holding a crusade. A father and his son were at Waikiki Beach handing out fliers for the event The little boy wanted to go up to a burly, beefy biker dude. The dad looked at the guy and said, "I don't know if that's a good idea." The son was insistent and walked right up to this big guy and gave him an invitation to the crusade. The guy took what that little boy gave him, crumpled it up and threw it on the ground. That night at the crusade the father told us that when the invitation was given, the first man on the field was that biker dude—he came after all.

We all know someone who needs Christ. For you, it might be some cranky old neighbor. It might be your mom or your dad. It might be a person you can't envision ever being a Christian. She is so hard. He is so against God. You have written him or her off. Even thinking about witnessing to that person seems extreme to you.

Think again. Remember, no one is beyond God's reach. That person can come to Jesus. Pray for him; pray for her. Allow God to put a burden on your heart, and be willing to reach out as God leads you. Are you willing to be extreme for Christ? He wants to use you today.

Greg Laurie is senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship (independent/nondenominational), in Riverside, Calif., as well as an evangelist with Harvest crusades. He has written more than 10 books, including The Upside Down Church. He and his wife, Catherine, are parents of two children and live in southern California.

Bible verses marked NIV are taken by permission from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society, Colorado Springs, Colorado. © 2002 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association from the January 2003 issue of Decision magazine

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