The Lost

Have you ever had one of those moments when all of a sudden, reality just comes and slaps you right upside the head? One of those moments where certain things are said or done that make you realize that perhaps your way of thinking, or maybe even your actions have been at best, slightly off course or at worst, simply out of line?

I'm sitting there in church this morning listening to a guest preacher. His lesson topic was about the church in general and its responsibilities to the world. He made several statements that I haven't ever really given much deep thought to, but in retrospect, he is absolutely right.

Now I realize that not everyone who reads this blog on a regular or even a semi-regular basis is a Christian, nor does everyone agree with my views on certain things. So be forewarned that this *may* be somewhat weird to ya.

One of the first things he mentioned was that when people (especially Christians, amongst themselves) start talking about evangelism, one of the most common things said is "People of the world just need to go to church." On the surface this sounds great but when you think about it, it's simply bull. Question: How are people of the world going to get to church if the people of the church don't get to the world? This one in particular hit me sort of hard because I have been talking with a co-worker who has never really ever gone to church. He has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he should really start going, and I have of course, invited him to come along. I have never really pressured him...only invited him a few times. I guess in a way, my actions and the way I live my life has shown him that I am a Christian. Maybe that in and of itself is good, but I simply can't find "the" way to get him to actually go through with what he feels he should do. Obviously SOMETHING is telling him he should go, I just can't decipher what.

The second thing mentioned has to do with the whole "feeling" of church. One of the popular things that more charisthmatic churches tend to say is that people have a "God sized hole" in their heart. Phrase it any way that you want, but when it comes down to it, it is simply touchy feely mumbo jumbo. Again, people are not going to know what voids there are in their lives if Christians aren't out there trying to show them how God can help fill those voids. In a couple of instances where I have actually been able to at least get people to come to church in the past, one of the first things I told them when we discussed Christianity in general is that all Christians are indeed hypocrites. Let me re-type that. We are ALL hypocrites. The term Christian means "Christ-like". Christ was perfect. None of us are perfect. I went on to explain to them that yes, I am a Christian, but yes, I am a sinner and we all fall short of the glory of God. I simply try my very best to keep those sins to a minimum and I try to have a great impact for the positive on the lives of people I encounter.

A popular term in many churches today, as it pertains to the lost in the world is "seekers." Again, this is a bunch of bull. Yes they are seeking something. They may not know it, but they are. But how are they going to walk that path to church if we, as Christians, don't show them the correct path and even walk with them, arm in arm along that path?

The running theme here is obviously that we, as Christians, are to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all living creatures. The "lost", the "seekers", the "wayward", whatever you want to call them are, through their actions and their lives, screaming at us to help them. Again, they may not know it but they are. We all just need to find that niche that will allow us into their lives and give us the opportunity to be heard.

I will continue more on this later this week or early next week when I have a bit more free time. More than likely it will be next week. I am off and heading home, so I will have more time to relax and research some more information. I have found some good studies, surveys and other materials that touch on this subject. I even found one comment that an atheist made in an atheist publication on the "good" of Christianity. If that doesn't get you to come back to read next week, I don't know what will :)

Hope that you are all doing well and I hope that you can give me some feedback on this. I find things of this nature very interesting and hope that you do as well. I would appreciate any honest and sincere feedback that you could give me.

As I said, I will be on vacation next week. I am heading to Texas to see my parents and even going to a Mavericks game in Dallas with a friend that I haven't seen in a while. She and I are pretty good buddies and it will be good to see her. Until then, I hope that you all have a great week and that God continues to bless you richly!!

~Greg~