Now we could
choose instead to just try to “do church” better than the other folks in
town. We could polish our program in such a way to
appeal to the “church” crowd, people who know the language of the church, watch
Christian TV, know the hymns by heart, and would fit so well with other
Christians. We could treat church growth
like tying get a larger part of the “market share” of Christians to come to our
church. Is that what Jesus wants?
Jesus put it
this way, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17.
The sad truth is that we often do not reach the lost and un-churched,
because we are trying to reach the righteous instead. It is quite possible that they won’t look
like us, nor speak like us, nor act like us.
Let me quote a very good friend of mine who came to Christ and Christian
Fellowship in recent years. She said, “What do Christians do for fun? How do they party? What do they do on Friday and Saturday
nights?” She was serious. She didn't come from a church background.
How do we
reach these people? Are we focusing our
ministry around reaching them, or are we just trying to compete for the “church”
business?
Are we ready
for them to come? Will we be shocked if
they come in with tattoos and body piercings?
What if they come dressed in dark gothic clothing, wearing a dog collar,
with their hair died strange colors? Are
we ready for them? I know that everyone who is lost and
un-churched doesn’t look like the description above, but if God sends them, can we love
them? Can we share Christ with them, or
would we just rather not have to deal with “those kind of people?” I’m just asking. Do we want to reach those lives that need to
be transformed? Are we really ready to pay
the price? If we reach them, will they
immediately understand church language, love the old hymns, and King James
English?
Who are we
trying to reach? Can we love the unlovable?
Well that’s who we were, and I am so
glad that Jesus does.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still
powerless, Christ died for the ungodly .
Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for
us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
Yes, that is the way Jesus loves us, and
that’s how he wants us to love others.
This is the mission he has given to us.
All this is from God, who reconciled
us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself
in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
It’s not just time; it’s past
time. In fact we have so little time to
win those around us to Christ. We must do
all that we can while we can. The time
is now! Today is the day of
salvation. We dare not wait. Eternity is in the balance. The souls of men, women, and children depend
on us to fulfill our purpose, to reach them with the message of salvation.
1 comment:
Love you and your family. Your are a precious group of people. I know God is going to truly bless this new venture.
See ya soon,
Lori, Jeff and Lacey Whisenant
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