A man with an advanced case of leprosy approached Jesus and begged for healing.

How did Jesus respond?

He didn’t get out his travel-size Purell and start sanitizing.

He didn’t keep a safe distance.

He didn’t run.

Instead, He did the unthinkable…

He reached out and touched the leprous, infectious skin of that man.

He touched him and said, “Be healed”.

The man was instantly healed.

When Jesus touched the leper, He didn’t catch leprosy—the leper received what Jesus had: healing and wholeness.

This is how God works: He won’t keep a safe distance from you.

He’s not moving away from you—He’s coming to you.

And you’re never too messed up for Him.

When we love God and are filled with His love for people, we won’t keep a safe distance either…

Because love crosses boundaries.

It jumps over barricades.

It redraws the line of our circle to add and include.

Love won’t keep a safe distance.

Love crosses boundaries.

It jumps over barricades.

Love redraws the line of our circle to add and include.

Sometimes, enlarging our circle of love actually means breaking out of our circle of comfort and familiarity to step into another person’s world.

Remember when Jesus invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ house?

This did not please the  religious crowd…

They complained, “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner.”

B. Zahnd’s book, Unconditional? The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness, tells the story of Pope John Paul II and Ali Ağca…

On May 13, 1981, Ali Ağca, a Turkish Muslim, approached Pope John Paul II as he traveled in an open motorcade through St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Standing only a few feet away, Ali Ağca fired a gun several times, critically wounding the pope as four bullets struck his torso, right arm, and left hand.

Ali Agca was immediately apprehended, and the gravely injured pope was rushed to the hospital. John Paul II would spend twenty-two days in the hospital recovering from Ali Ağca’s attack.

In his first statement following the attempted assassination, John Paul requested that people “pray for my brother [Ali Ağca], whom I have sincerely forgiven.”

If you are inclined to casually dismiss this as just “what popes are supposed to do,” may I suggest that until quite recently this is not how a pope would be expected to respond to an attempted murder (in another time, a pope who was attacked by a Muslim fanatic would have responded with his own form of violence, which in all likelihood would have escalated into a Christian holy war and Islamic jihad).

Two years later, John Paul II visited Ali Ağca in prison. In a private room the two men sat knee-to-knee, face-to-face, the pope holding the hand of his would-be-assassin… and forgiving him.

There are two iconic photographic images that emerged from these two dramatic encounters of Pope John Paul II and Ali Ağca. The first is  a photograph of the shocked face of Pope John Paul II, his papal robe splattered with blood, just after being shot. The second is a photograph of the shocked face of Ali Ağca as the pope met with him in prison and forgave him. In both pictures a shocked face seems to be asking the same question—”Why?”

In his hatred, Ali Ağca fired bullets of hate into the body of John Paul II, and though the bullets almost took the pope’s life, the hate never touched his soul.

John Paul II responded with whispered words of love and forgiveness—words that lodged in the soul of Ali Ağca.

Love walked through the doors of a prison cell to offer forgiveness and friendship.

Love crossed boundaries and jumped over barricades.

Love redrew the lines to add and include.

So here is my question for you:

Who is your Ali Ağca?

I went for a big bike ride yesterday on the Cedar River Trail.

Part of the trail was closed down, so for a short distance, we were diverted to the highway.

For a while, I was able to ride inside the barricades. Eventually, there wasn’t enough of a shoulder anymore, and I had to ride outside the barricades—close to traffic.

It was pretty sketchy. I was nervous, concerned for my safety.

Boundaries and barricades keep us feeling safe.

We like the idea of strong lines drawn… “We’re in here, safe and sound—they’re out there, where they belong.”

Love, on the other hand, redraws the lines. It jumps the barricade and breaks through boundaries.

In Jesus’ day, lepers were separated from the rest of society.

They were outcasts and labeled “unclean.”

People were more afraid of getting what lepers had and less concerned about the needs of the lepers.

But Jesus broke through the boundary; He crossed a strong line that had been drawn.

In one of the villages, He met a man with an advanced case of leprosy.

When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him.

“I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. (Luke 5.12, 13)

Jesus reached out and touched the man even though he was unclean.

That’s what love does… it reaches across boundaries.

Love jumps the barricade.

When the love of God and the “unclean” collide, love always wins.

We need to be less afraid of people and more full of the love of God for people!

Enlarge your circle of love…

Break through boundaries.

Jump the barricade.

Love. People. Period.

One more thought:

Often our greatest impact is with those outside our circles (those who are older, younger, richer, poorer, from a different ethnic background, etc.).

When I think about people who took a chance on me and really made a difference in my life—the majority of them were not just like me.

Honestly, we already know what our friends think.

We’ve come to expect their encouragement and compliments.

When a compliment or encouragement comes from an unexpected source, it has greater impact.

We need to jump the barricade and break out of our circles.

Know this…

when you break out of your comfort zone,

when you do something to bless, encourage, help, or build-up someone who is NOT like you,

the impact is significant.

We all have a THAT guy in our world.

The one I know is super loud and obnoxious…

All. The. Time.

THAT guy.

He stresses me out. He’s too much for me. He makes me want to hide.

Your THAT guy is probably different than mine.

Stop and think about them for a moment…

As you picture him/her, are you feeling annoyed?

Recently, my wife caught me rolling my eyes and saying judgy things about THAT guy.

Correcting me, she said, “I like to think of him as our future Apostle Paul.”

At first, I’m laughing on the inside—thinking, “Ha! That guy??!?!”

But then I realized something…

The Apostle Paul was THAT guy.

My next thought? *Sigh* My wife is right again.

If you check out the story in Acts chapter 9, you’ll see Paul is a loud and obnoxious type-A bully.

He wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. He stresses people out. He makes them want to hide.

His business is persecuting the church—and business is good.

Among Christians, he was definitely known as THAT guy.

Paul had a “hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife” bad reputation.

But one day, THAT guy met Jesus.

He had a “knocked-off-his-donkey” experience. He became a Christian. He changed.

And the church had a decision to make—do we include him or keep our distance?

Do we let THAT guy in our circle or do we keep him out?

I’m glad they redrew the lines of their circle to include the Apostle Paul—with his shady past and terrible reputation.

What’s the point?

You never know who THAT guy might actually be.

My wife is right.

Our THAT guy could be our next Apostle Paul.

I guess it’s time for me to stop with the eye-rolling and work on seeing the potential.

Question: Do you have a “from THAT guy to the Apostle Paul story of transformation?” Please share it!

Today’s post comes from the blog of one of my friends, Danielle Beaudry. She’s part of the leadership team at MorningStar Church in Yakima, WA. Check out her blog here.

Also, follow Danielle on Twitter – you’ll be glad you did.

Will You Take A Chance?

It takes work to love someone through their mess and into the arms of Jesus.

But somebody has to do it.

Romans 10:14-15 (NLT): “But how can they call on him (Jesus) to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

I like how the Message Translation puts it, ”…A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!”

As believers, we’ve been equip and sent out into the world to affect people with the love of God (Matthew 28:18-20).

We were made to give others the opportunity to know Jesus and live for Him.

When I was in middle school, I was not the person you’d meet today.

I was rude, crude, cussed like a sailor, got into fights, attitude up the ying-yang, and all about doing whatever was “cool” at the time to gain the most friends.

I rarely smiled. Wore scandalous clothes. I always had a boy-toy, and was quick to back-stab anyone who crossed me.

If I threw a party that my friend’s boyfriend came to (for example), and he wanted to make-out behind her back, I wouldn’t hesitate. I also wouldn’t hesitate to get up in her face when she confronted me about it at school after the weekend, and grab my gangster friends who had my back to fight for me.

Yeah, I was that girl.

But in the eighth grade, there was this Christian I had to sit next to during science.

She didn’t cuss, she smiled all the time, wasn’t allowed to date and was…extremely weird.

But she took a chance on me.

For months she invited me to her youth ministry, and for months I had every excuse in the book. Finally, one week, I gave in. She had established enough of a relationship with me that, out of respect, I went with her.

That night, God grabbed ahold of my heart, changed my life, and I’ve never gone back.

What if that girl gave up on me after I said no the first time? After I cussed her out the first time? When I treated her like a freak-show for following Jesus?

What if she saw that I was “a lost cause” and didn’t dare to roll the dice on me?

Thank God this girl realized that Jesus took a chance on us when he came to earth and sacrificed His life. And that kind of out-of-control love was made to share.

Looking back at my story it makes me think, “How many times do I give up too easily, overlook someone with a hard exterior, and let opportunities pass me by?”

I mean really, would I have reached out to myself before I knew Jesus?!

What an amazing reminder.

People need you.

People need you to take a stand and really live what you preach.

People need you to open your mouth and actually share how God’s changed your life, and that God’s forgiveness and abundant life is available to them.

Don’t pass the buck.

Don’t leave the job to someone whose been saved longer, is older than you, more outgoing, more qualified, etc.

Extend grace. Share the Good News. Love someone through their mess.

I’m a product of that kind of boldness.

Love the “before-Jesus” people out there.

Take a chance.