The Lost

My church is having revival this week and our speaker Dr. Hal Poe kicked off revival Sunday morning talking about what it means to be lost. There was something he said that jumped out at me. “Something is only lost, if someone cares about it and has right to possession.” Yeah, Wow! I’m also currently reading Dr. Thom Rainer’s book The Unchurched Next Door. It’s about the lost and how to witness to them. Dr. Rainer had 300 interviews conducted amongst unchurched people. The points he has pushed so far are that the majority of the lost are open to hearing the gospel, most are willing to go to church if invited, and many want Christians to tell them about Jesus. There was one interviewer who said that when he asked a coworker if he could interview him, the coworker was so excited. The coworker told him, he had wanted someone to tell him about Jesus but noone ever offered. God said we are to be a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6) yet many of the people interviewed said they felt Christians were ashamed to talk about religion. If this sounds like you, you are not alone. If this is you, it’s not okay! Peter says we should be prepared to share the hope that we have. (1 Peter 3:15)Yes sometimes it’s intimidating to talk about Jesus to someone who is not a Christian. They might get hostile or they might ask a question you don’t know the answer to. The list of excuses goes on and on. When God told Moses to go talk to pharaoh he responded that he wasn’t eloquent of speech. (Exodus 4:10-12) The thing you must realize is that if God makes an appointment for you to talk to someone, He will give you the words to say. I ask God on a daily basis for opportunities to serve him and I ask for wisdom and the words to say. I may have failed on my part of that deal but God never has! I promise it is a wonderful feeling you get when someone you’ve talked to comes to church or drops to their knees and says the prayer of salvation. It’s hard for someone who goes to church to understand how a lost person feels. Imagine feeling that Christians look down on you. How do you ask someone who looks down on you for help? Imagine feeling that God could never forgive your sin or that you are not worthy of his forgiveness. As a Christian you know all you have to do is Admit there is a God, Believe he sent His Son to die for your sins, and Confess your sins. If you have never been to church, it’s hard to believe it could be that simple. It is our duty as Christians to tell the lost about Jesus. The thought I want to leave you with is what Dr. Poe said in his sermon Sunday morning. “Something is only lost, if somebody cares about it and has right to possession.” In his sermon he referred to that somebody as God. I think it goes further than that. For us to want to see the lost saved we have to care about them. Think about that.

MSW

For Someone to be lost, Someone has to care about them!