I want to talk about what it’s like to be like Jesus with people who are far from God. Here are some characteristics of Christ reaching out to others, using different parts of the body.

We can ask ourselves each of these questions to see if our lives are aligned with Jesus.

Does my heart CARE ABOUT what God’s heart cares about?

I believe the most important problem when it comes to reaching out as a fully devoted follower is the heart problem. Sometimes, the truth is our heart gets cold. Sometimes we find it easier to stay in our own little bubble and not take risks, not exert the effort or the energy that’s involved in getting to know somebody far from God. Sometimes we just focus on our own convenience and our own comfort. So maybe some of us need to pray today that God will give us a heart for the lost like Jesus had. We’ll do that at the close of this service.

"Do my feet TAKE ME where Jesus’ feet took him?"

Where did Jesus’ feet take him? They took him to people far from God all the time. His feet took him where the Pharisees feet would never take them — to parties at tax collector’s houses, to dinners attended by prostitutes, to the country of Samaria where a respectable religious leader would never go, to lepers — just to every kind of people. Jesus’ feet got him into serious trouble.

When Jesus was called the friend of sinners, we think of that as a lovely title. It was not intended that way. That was meant to be a title of derision, of hostility — friend of sinners. Jesus was with them, and Jesus loved them. The Pharisees hated Jesus’ feet.

There is this wonderful verse in Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that God reigns!”

How beautiful are the feet of those who come with the gospel. Jesus’ feet were so beautiful to people far from God that one day a woman who thought she was lost beyond hope gave her greatest treasure to anoint those feet. She bathed them with her tears, and she dried them with her hair because those feet brought Jesus to her.

For most of us, this does not mean that you have to start going to new places. For most of us, this means that we just need to start forming relationships and being intentional in circles where you already find yourself.

If your kids are in the ‘soccer years’ of their lives you have a great opportunity. You can find out a lot about the spiritual condition of somebody’s heart just by watching how they respond when their kid plays soccer.You can cultivate friendships and strike up meaningful conversations about family and parenting all by just caring for people while you’re doing what you’d be doing anyways.

It’ll look different for everybody, but it really is possible. You really can have feet like Jesus’ feet. You can have feet that take you to where people are far from God because they’re all over the place.

Do my hands EXTEND SERVICE to the people Jesus’ hands served?  

Jesus’ hands were constantly extended in service to people who didn’t yet know his Father.

In Mark 1, there’s a wonderful story where a leper approaches Jesus, and the man asks to be made clean. Now, the law was real strict about lepers. They couldn’t have any contact with non-lepers. They had to cry out, "Unclean!" They had to stay outside of the village. If they even touched somebody’s house, it was supposed to be torn down because it was considered to be unclean.

Nobody could come within 10 feet of a leper. But this leper comes up to Jesus and says, "Would you make me clean?" Jesus doesn’t turn away. Jesus reaches out his hand and touches this man who had not been touched for who knows how many years. Not by his children, not by his spouse. Jesus didn’t have to do that. He could have just said a word, but he reached out with his hand and touched the man and said, "Be clean."

Not only was Jesus not infected by this guy’s leprosy, it was the other way around. Jesus was so full of life and health that he infected the leper with his life. Jesus was more contagious with the life of the kingdom than the leper was with his disease. You know if the Spirit of God lives inside you, you’re like that. We fear sin sometimes, and rightly so in proper proportions because it is a fearsome thing.

But I’ll tell you what. Sin is not nearly as contagious as the life of the kingdom of God, not nearly. Jesus just kept extending his hand — healing lepers, touching children, washing feet, clasping his hands in prayer, asking the Father to give him every life of every man and woman whom he could — until at the very end of his life when he took a nail in each hand for the sake of every sinner that ever lived.

So take a look at your hands for a moment. How often are they extended to service to someone who’s far from God? Maybe you have a neighbor that you could cut their grass or do an errand for. Maybe there’s somebody at work that feels discouraged, and these hands could write him a note, touch their heart. Maybe there’s a lonely person in your world.

Does my mouth SAY what Jesus’ mouth would?  

I just want to give you one tip in terms of speaking with folks far from God. Early on in your relationship with them, drop some clues or hints about your spiritual commitment. Here’s what happens: Sometimes, Christians end up in a relationship with an unchurched acquaintance for years, but they’ve never mentioned their faith. And eventually, they kind of go into avoidance mode because they’re embarrassed for not having talked about it.

So a helpful thing is just to drop hints or clues early in the relationship about your spiritual commitment. For example, I have never yet met somebody who was offended when they expressed a need, and I asked them, “Do you mind if I pray for you about that?”

It’s a real simple thing. When you hear a need from somebody, just offer to pray. Or maybe mention, "I’m involved with this church that’s real meaningful thing to me." This is not a full-fledged gospel presentation. It’s just dropping clues about your commitment so later on when the door opens, you’re able to go through it.