Know what this is? Go here and read part one if you need to catch up.
But it comes down to this. There can be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Jesus’ primary mission was to seek and to save that which was lost. Lost people matter to God. I shared just a tiny percentage of the scriptures in part one that refer to lost things and how valuable they are to God. The point is, Jesus said this a million different ways so that no one could possibly miss it.
Yet they do.
All the time.
Individuals miss it and entire churches and even denominations miss it. But remember what I just said, no one could possibly miss it. It’s not a matter of it being too cryptic—seriously, anyone with a detectable brain wave would be able to see it all over the Bible. In fact, you can’t read even one of the 66 books of the Bible without being confronted with God’s heart for wayward man. Nevertheless, I’ll say it again…
People miss it! Churches miss it. Entire denominations miss it. Actually, for that matter, I’ll go out on a limb and say that a huge chunk of “Christianity” has missed the boat entirely on this—for centuries!
BTW, that’s bad.
And here’s why it’s bad—really, really bad…
Because the old, “I didn’t know” mantra cannot be honestly used here. Oh, it can be used, just not honestly. That leaves only one reason why so many who claim to be followers of Christ absolutely refuse to tell the world about how much Jesus loves them and that He came and died that they might live (ß You should know that that was surprisingly easy to type J ). Here’s the painful truth.
They don’t care.
It’s a bit like a Christian version of entitlement. Many of those who are already saved somehow develop a kind of apathy toward others who, “just don’t seem to get it.” Sometimes it’s subtle, as in, “I’ve tried to talk to so and so about Jesus but they’re just to far gone.” Other times it’s more overt—“I am reformed, and I believe that those who are destined to be saved will find Christ.” This last one is downright hateful. It’s tantamount to telling lost people they can just go to hell. Both are cop outs because we simply do not want to be inconvenienced with lost people or challenged outside of our carefully constructed comfort zones.
It’s a sad state of affairs. But, on a good note, there seem to be many churches rising up these days driving people back toward the simple gospel message so many have abandoned for health, wealth and prosperity.
Southbrook is one of those churches.
So, what do we do with this new apathy? Do we just move on with the few with a passion for the lost and let the others figure it out when they stand face to face with God?
No, I do not have that luxury as a pastor. I need to do everything within my power to turn believers back to the mission for which they were called in the first place. And there is a way to do this.
The next blog is about that.