Last week I started a 4-part blog about how to be light in a dark world. The principles I’m talking about come from Mark 2.1-12 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202;&version=51;). This is the story of the friend who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus. There was a huge crowd trying to get to Jesus. So they cut a hole in the roof so that Jesus could heal their friend. The thrust of what I’m saying is that you have to learn to live positively in a world full of ugliness and meanness. First, you have to care for people. Second, you have to believe that Jesus will “save” them from their sins. Third, you can’t get discouraged – it’s not easy loving a world to Christ. Next…

4. They dared to do something DIFFERENT. As I've already mentioned, the friends of the paralyzed man cut a hole in the roof to get their friends to Jesus. This is the principle of innovation.

Notice what the friends did when they ran into difficulties. “They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach Him. So they went through the roof…”

Are you willing to go through the roof to reach people for Jesus?

At Rocky River we’ve done some pretty innovative things to reach people over the last six years. There are a number of churches in our area that are doing what they do because we pioneered it. And here’s the deal. A lot of times we’ll have people come over to see why we’re growing and reaching so many people. And after the service is over they say something like, “Okay. We get it. Get rid of the piano. Serve Starbucks coffee. Get rid of the suits and ties. And buy our pastor so flip flops and Bermuda shorts.” They have totally missed what we’re about at Rocky River. All of those things are a part of R2C2 but they come from a church with a heart full of love for people and a willingness to be different and innovative for people that are lost and going to hell.

And for you younger [I’m 39] church planters and leaders out there, listen up. Being different means dealing with criticism. Over the years we/I have taken a lot of criticism from the wolves in sheep’s clothing who pretend to care about people but really don’t. If you’re going to be different you have to ignore the naysayers. Or, you can do like I do and let it motivate you.

The point is that to reach people you have to be different, innovative, spend money, and take risks.