A friend of mine from Wales, sent me the following piece written by John Fischer about our engagement with the world. This piece teems with the message and spirit of Jesus. For those that thought the November elections in the US were a major Christian victory, this might give us pause and consider just what message we are sending to the world in the name of our Savior:
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 vs. wrong thing on the cross. No need to spend a lot of time proving what we already know about everyone including ourselves: that 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.
When Jesus looked at the world he didn’t see bad people needing to be fixed, but he wept over them with deep compassion as those who are “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” When you get that, you will simply be his witness in the world, even when you’re not trying to be.
