Steve had some very thoughtful principles on his blog yesterday. In the last sentence, he said, “let’s never be afraid to reach whoever the Lord prompts us to reach toward.” 
It seems to me that most of the time, those who God wants to reach are the needy, the outcasts, the spiritually bankrupt, and those on the edge of society. Rarely will the satisfied, the well-to-do, or the comfortable even want Jesus. And most of the time, it seems to me, we will not “feel comfortable” with those who are on the edge of society.
Look at the ministry of Jesus. In Matthew 21:12ff we read, Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,†he said to them, â€â€˜My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’†The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,†they were indignant.
Most of the time, those who want Jesus are the blind, the lame, and the outcasts. Or even if they don’t fit that category, they might just be a different ethnic group. For example, in Moreno Valley, we are see God drawing English speaking Hispanic people to Himself. We at Wellspring feel a mandate to reach them because they are abundant in Moreno Valley, speak English, and hungry for Jesus. But they are not like us!
Thus, even though HUP is a common sense principle, I believe it should be thoroughly examined in the light of Scripture.
Comments?
Joel