I strongly sense an urgency that The Church needs to return to the Father’s Heart for the lost!
The Father’s heart has ALWAYS been about the lost. This truth is stated in Luke 19:10, “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” One of Jesus’ main missions/ ministries was to be about the lost, to live life with them, to seek them out, to spend time with them, to eat with them, to go after them even if it means leaving the “flock” behind. Let’s look at Matthew 18:12-14, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
This is not to say that God does not care about the 99, but we have to remember His heart is that none would perish, that NOT ONE would be lost.
We know that Jesus had disciples that he taught and poured in to, however how he taught and poured into them was by constantly teaching them to have the Father’s Heart for the lost; and then he told them to go and do the same thing. As it states in Matthew 28:18-20,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”’
Let’s think about this for a second…
Jesus came to seek and save the lost, Jesus commanded us to GO (not to stay) and make disciples. I know it is safe and convenient to stay with in the boundaries of a building, in a certain seat on any given Sunday morning….
But what if we got it wrong? What if we were called to live a radical life for Jesus that meant that we went outside of our church buildings, where we began to find ways to fellowship with unbelievers with a heart to simply love them as God loves them? We see that Jesus was always hanging out with and eating with sinners in order to LOVE them, and as a response to his love they were saved, set free, and healed.
Here are a few questions I have been pondering lately…
Am I so focused on the 99 and what they think of me that I forget about the ONE?
Am I so focused on the 99 and how comfortable I am with those 99 that I’m afraid to go after the ONE?
Am I so focused on the 99 and how well I fit within the 99 that when ONE looks and acts and lives somewhere different I become so uncomfortable at the thought of going after the one?
Do I often see the ONE, but then stay with the 99 because I don’t think I have what it takes to draw the one back to the 99?
The reality is that I could come up with any number of circumstances situations insert in the 99 versus ONE scenario. However Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 29:18-20 that we are to GO.
There is certainty that God gives us opportunities every day at work, at home, in our neighborhood, at our kid’s schools, at our own schools, at daycare, the dry cleaners, the grocery store, at the park with the kids, at the movies, at the gym, at the beach, on an airplane, at restaurants, etc. to share God’s love and to have the Heart of the Father for the lost. Friends, we are called to live a lifestyle of love, a lifestyle of evangelism, that ONE might be saved, set free, healed!
As we embark on Catalyst week of Jesus Loves Kzoo, I challenge you to boldly pursue the ONE!
I challenge you to take hold of God’s word that says “perfect love casts out fear,” and in response, LOVE BOLDLY and SACRIFICIALLY!
I challenge you not to make ANY excuses whatsoever when it comes to your ability to GO after the ONE.
I challenge you to make up your mind, to settle within your own heart that YOU were MADE to GO OUT and LOVE!
My prayer is that we will as The Church, return to the Father’s Heart for the lost this week, going forward; and live boldly a lifestyle of love that transforms our city!
Love you all!
Kristy Aukeman, Vanguard Street Ministry & JLK Vision Team