Small steps in faith

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Looking at the world differently

I read an article in my email yesterday about how Christians sometimes view the world as wrong. It gave another way to look at things. It seems that people get hung up on right vs wrong, your way or my way,etc. When you're lost sometimes you just need a little help,a little guidance, and support so that you can find a better way....and we all need that help at one time or another.




Lost and found
by John Fischer


The world is not wrong as much as it is lost, and “lost” is the operative word here.

For some time now, it seems to have been very important to many people in the church and in Christian circles that the world is wrong. As a result, a good deal of effort has been put into trying to fight the wrong in order to overcome it and make right prevail. This has been unfortunate in some ways for our mission in the world, which is to spread the Good News of Christ’s forgiveness to all because of the cross, and invite people to become followers of Christ. As a result, a confusing mixed message has gone out. Something like: We love you and want to let you know that Christ died for your sins; we really don’t like you unless you see things the way we do.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid the second message has been much louder than the first. It’s become more important to make society Christian than to make Christians in society.

There’s one way to a quick attitude change that will help us get back on track with our mission. Think of the world as being not wrong as much as it is lost, and “lost” is the operative word.

When someone is wrong, the other’s job is to set that person right. Do you have anybody like this in your life – someone who is out to set you straight in some area? How happy are you to see this person as a general rule? This attitude creates a very conditional relationship and one in which the person who is “right” is always better. In contrast, when someone is lost, the other’s job is to find that person, and believe me, someone coming to my rescue is a much more welcome sight than someone coming as my judge.

Jesus stated his mission was as one coming to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). He loved the lost. He told lots of stories about lost things: a coin (Luke 15:8-10), a pearl in a field (Matthew 13:44-46), one sheep among a hundred (Luke 15:3-7), and one son who was lost – who when he came home, was not touted for being wrong, but was celebrated for having been found (Luke 15:11-27)!

God’s heart is really big. He’s already dealt with the right versus wrong thing on the cross. No need to spend a lot of time proving what we already know about everyone, including ourselves: We’re all wrong. Let’s get back to finding people who are lost and the joy of being found ourselves (because we were lost, too). I think that will be much closer to our mission.

1 Comments:

  • At 1:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    hey!! I didnt get a happy birthday wish from you yet! ;) Tell darrel that too.lol Have a great day cant wait to hang out with you guys again

     

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