Growing up Baptist means you grow up to become ‘lost.’ And it’s not just me, it’s lost family members and lost neighbors. In fact, it’s a category . . . ‘the lost.’ It all makes sense. You’re protected by your childhood innocence until you reach the ‘age of accountability.’ (I couldn’t find that term in my King James!) I guess if you ‘don’t know what you don’t know’ . . . if you’re not mature enough to process a complex set of theological premises, you get a pass. But after that, you’re ‘lost’ until you ‘pray the prayer’ and ‘get saved’ by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This idea of being ‘lost’ connects to Jesus’ stories of the lost coin, the lost sheep and others. The point is the passion of the Father as He pursues what’s ‘lost.’
But there’s another layer of ‘lost.’ ‘Lost’ can be a lot more than someone else not knowing where you are. ‘Lost’ can mean you don’t know where you are. Or where you’re going. Or what’s important.
When someone is lost, the first thing they have to determine is where they are. You can call for help, but unless you know where you are, ‘help’ won’t know where to find you. That’s where so many people are today. It’s not just that they’re ‘lost’ (meaning they don’t accept Jesus), it’s that they don’t really know where they are spiritually (or in life for that matter). Without a moral compass . . . without a meaningful ‘definer’ of right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral, wise and unwise, they’re lost. Truly lost. They don’t know where they are. Or where they’re going.
So how do people get ‘found’? What’s the road to redemption for the ‘lost’ in a media-driven culture with a weakened church and the richest generation of all-time completely wrapped up in themselves?
It’s a ‘found’ life. Someone surrendered to Jesus in every dimension. Truly ‘found’ Jesus-followers live loud just by living true. Cynicism and hypocrisy continue to render “public” Christian voices irrelevant. Can you think of a Jesus-follower who is respected and ‘listened to’ in the public square? Since Billy Graham got old, there’s no one widely and deeply respected enough to be heard.
So ‘the lost’ are living near ‘the found’. Through consistency, devotion, love and acceptance, the ‘found’ are God’s most valuable instrument of redemption. By embodying Jesus, not just when it’s cool and convenient, but all the time, ‘the lost’ may begin to see a better way of life. Jesus-followers (us ‘found’ people) . . . we cannot get derailed. We must be the ‘peculiar people’ referred to in Scripture. We cannot compromise. If we give in and simply do what everyone else does, ‘the lost’ will have no one to show them what it looks like to be ‘found.’
To a culture that isn’t listening . . . to neighbors, co-workers, extended family members . . . to everyone in our sphere of influence, we may in fact be the only Jesus they see. Living ‘found’ lives has never been more important.
Prayer – Lord, give us a constant awareness that ‘lost’ people are watching our every word and deed. Their interest in the Gospel may ride on our willingness to be different and say no at times.
