How far would you go to bring a friend to Jesus?

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” Luke 5:18-20

I have friends that have waited in a cold drizzle for 6 hours to meet the Jonas Brothers. I have a friend that camped overnight in front of a Target store in below freezing temperatures to buy a Nintendo Wii. I am always amazed at the determination some people will go through to get what they want. But really, these friends of the paralyzed man were over the top in their zeal to meet Jesus.

In an age where a church service going 10 minutes too long is enough to send people into a tizzy, these guys were "all in." First, they carried their friend to this house on a sleeping mat - not a stretcher, a mat. Have you ever tried to carry a grown man on a mat? Then, when they couldn't get to the house, they carried him up ON THE ROOF! Hello? Then they removed some tiles (which were, hopefully, easily replaced later) and lowered him down in front of Jesus. This was early in the ministry of Jesus, but there was something about him - about the way he taught or lived or loved people - something. Something so powerful that these guys thought, "If only we could get our friend in front of Jesus, I know he'll walk again." And the cool part is, it worked. Now, we don't know if or how they prayed for Jesus to heal him, or if they asked friends to pray, or how that part of the story worked. But what we see is that they brought their friend to Jesus through their own faith and dogged determination. They decided that nothing - not people nor walls nor roofs, not even sheer exhaustion - nothing would keep them from bringing their friend to Jesus.

For me, I'm sometimes embarrassed to even ask if my friends know Jesus. Even people I know need healed, I know need forgiven, I know need loved. I often don't even try to bring them in front of Jesus. So, how far would you go to bring a friend to Jesus?