"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
That is the mission..in a nutshell. Isn't it funny that Jesus said...GO to us...not "have them come to me"? And yet the church through 2000 years has changed that command to "Come to our church building, where if you fit our mold we will accept you and we will preach to you our gospel"
The world is lost. Jesus knew that; He died for that reason. I believe He also knew that to save the lost, his disciples (that includes us) were going to have to get their hands dirty. They were going to have to give up what made them comfortable. Read the book of Acts...they did...Peter met in a Gentile's home, Paul met with the lost amongst the Idols of Athens...check it out.
For the most part, the lost are not comfortable in our sanctuaries and holy places. The lost are comfortable in their world...that is where they gather. We are comfortable meeting on Sundays, Wednesdays and any other day the saints can gather at the building. Do you see the disparity? So did Jesus...And he suggested...no wait...He commanded that we go into all the world. We can not reach the lost if we are not where they need us to be. This doesn't just apply to missionaries in Africa or Asia... this means us making ourselves open and available to love and communicate the gospel (Jesus'--not ours)to a world that is dying. Yeah, for our locality it means ball fields, Starbucks, stores, restaurants and our homes. Sometimes, it may mean we have to rearrange a service time or extend ourselves to meet when the world is available...on their terms...not ours.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the retoric of "well, I really like everyone to meet together", "I like seeing you" or "I really draw encouragement from our meetings" that we fail to see the commonality in each of those statements.... "I". Somewhere it became all about what makes ME comfortable, encouraged and happy. What about the 100's (maybe 1000's) in our immediate area who will never hear the gospel because we are most concerned about ourselves. I understand we need to be together and encourage each other...there is no bad in that. However, that, I am afraid has become our key focus. We only give lip service to Christ's gospel...we expect the world to come...not us, go.
I heard a preacher speak recently about the parable of the sower. And He added a new place that seed is being sown. We sow our seeds against the insides of our church buildings and then we wonder why they don't sprout. The fertile soil is away from our buildings where the lost are so afraid of being judged and condemned. Our goal should NEVER be about us and how to increase OUR numbers...our goal is to increase the number of people who hear that Jesus loved them enough to DIE for them and that He was raised to give them eternal life. AND THAT IS THE WHOLE GOSPEL...and Jesus did not ask us to sell it...just to tell it.
Look around on Sunday...Wednesday...How many lost are walking in the doors of our buildings? The lack of response is not due to singing, preaching or a chance to respond. There is no response because by and large, there ARE NO RESPONDERS!! THE WORLD THAT IS LOST IS OUTSIDE! No matter how many invitations we offer inside our walls...they can not hear us!
So...what can we do? We need to find the places where the lost are and we need to share the God who loves them so exquisitely. We need to not worry about "getting them saved" but just share the love of God and let Him do the saving. Believe it or not...He has a lot of experience and He is pretty good at it.
So... DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!! Get uncomfortable...meet in weird spots fro study, use your home groups, use your life groups, do kind things for peple, tell people God still loves them, LOVE PEOPLE, pray for them...do something besides just coming to the building and waiting for God to bring them here...God is moving! You better be watching 'cause He may be moving without you!
I want to start. Wow I have never thought quite like that before with the invitation that is given EVERY time we meet to gether and the occasional people 3 times a year that respond, Even though we are all sinners (but not my point). The ones to respond are out there not in our walls like you said. That makes me think of our growing life group and you know who I am talking about when I mention the girl who was baptized at sys. That was an invitation to the lost. Wow good point. I got exited and motivated reading this. Welcome to God speaking.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with not being comfortable though it is a real struggle to put others above that and the part about sharing Christ not our denomination. Wow Ill prob. talk to you more later about this.