Jesus wasn't afraid to draw a crowd.
Jesus attracted large numbers of people during his ministry on Earth. People were attracted to Jesus, and Jesus was ready to teach them. Of course, there were times when it seems like he didn't attract a crowd on purpose (see Mark 6:13-21). Jesus saw value in drawing a crowd, and he saw value in taking advantage of the opportunity when there was a crowd. Jesus offered as much compassion and attention to a crowd of one as he did to over 5,000 people, so we know there is value in both. But if we are to take Jesus' model of reaching people seriously, then we shouldn't be afraid to draw a crowd, either.
Jesus wasn't afraid to love 'em when they got there.
Jesus cared for people whether there was one of them or 5,000. And he didn't have bouncers at the door, or reserve seats in the front rows for people who would look better on camera. He healed, he taught, he fed, he looked people in the eye. If they were willing to be in the same room as him, he took the time to love them. If your church or ministry starts to draw a crowd, chances are there might be people there you didn't invite or expect would be there. Jesus didn't pick and choose who could come, and neither can we. And if you want a lot of people to come, make sure you're ready to care for them. Jesus was. There's a distaste among many ministry leaders for models of ministry that involve attracting a crowd. But I think if we get to the bottom of it, most people assume that ministries and churches that draw a crowd aren't able to care for them when they get there, and discipleship and ministry are necessarily shallow. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you're willing to draw a crowd, you've got to be willing to roll up your sleeves and love 'em when they do come.
Jesus wasn't afraid to tell the truth.
Jesus was terrible at P.R. He probably didn't have an agent, let alone a publicist, because sometimes he would alienate the people who wanted to follow him by what he said. There were times when his teaching caused people to stop wanting to be around him (John 6:60-66). Jesus even set expectations on his followers that kept some from following him (Luke 9:57-62). Once you start gathering a crowd, it can be tempting to want to keep them there by holding back. Jesus wasn't afraid of losing followers who didn't like the truth. Now, this doesn't give us permission to be jerks or to label everyone who leaves as someone who is afraid of the truth. Sometimes people don't want to come back because of us, not because of Jesus. But when we simply relay the same truths that Jesus taught, some people will find that hard to swallow. Jesus wasn't afraid of that, and neither should we be.
