Lost People Matter to God So They Should Matter To Us!

Matthew 18 - NIV

Enduring Word Commentary

Key Verses for Today:

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11]  12 “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? 13 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. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Commentary

Jesus mainly taught in parables, which reveals what the kingdom of heaven is like. The parables represent the qualities of Jesus and the Father. Usually there is one main spiritual principle that the parable is driving home. It is kind of like the "punchline" of a joke. When I was younger I used to not get the punchline of my dad's jokes. Sometimes people, including the disciples, did not get Jesus' parables. 

This is one of my favorite parables because it shows the true heart of God. It shows us how much God cares for every single person, as illustrated by owner of the 100 sheep, who goes after the one lost sheep. A church I went to growing up called Willow Creek in Chicago, was lead by a Pastor named Bill Hybels. 

Willow Creek was one of the first megachurches in the 80"s, along with Saddleback church, which was led by Pastor Rick Warren. Both of these churches were based on the motto, "Lost people matter to God, so they should matter to us." This core value and the DNA of these churches was present in everything they did as a church. The Sunday services were structured to be sensitive to those who would be coming to the church for the first time, or returning after a long absence. 

The Sunday services messages were based on topics that would be interesting to someone who was not a churchgoer. The music was geared to those who were not used to going to church. The members of the church service knew the service was more geared to the "unchurched". 

They researched why people did not go to church. The responses were the messages was long and not comprehendible, and the church was always asking for money. So they never asked for an offering from guests. 

They had a Wednesday night service called, "The New Community". This service provided in depth bible teaching and longer sets of deeper worship songs. There was time for prayer and communion once a month. 

It no accident that this church grew to 5,000 people rather quickly. Being part of this church shaped my life forever. As a pastor of 30 years, this core value has always been one of my core values. A lot of churches mainly focus on their members and making sure they are happy. While, of course, we need to minister to the flock in our church, someone has said, "The church is the only organization, which is designed for those out its four walls."

Lost people matter to God. Lost people matter to Jesus. After all he died for them on the cross. Lost people SHOULD matter to us!  

Application for Today:

1. Do you think very much about lost people who don't know God or have gone away from him?

2. What are some ways you can develop an awareness of people around you who might be far from God? 


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