This past week I had the pleasure of meeting with a pastor friend of mine. I won't say who he is, but his initials are "Dave".
Anyway, as we were sharing our "great wisdom" he told me about the theme he was going to go with in his fall campaign. -- He shared with me how he was burdened for the "lost sheep" - those folks who once attended church, but now have chosen to not participate in any way. In his heart, he felt that his church needed to make every effort to bring as many of these "wounded souls" back into the flock as possible.
Of course, my first thought was that Jesus shared the same burden. In His teachings, He expressed in Matthew 18:12-14 the parable of the lost sheep.
"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, I tell you the truth, 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 be lost."
Certainly, any time we share the same passion as Jesus, how could it be wrong?
But first, I think we need to look at why people leave in the first place -- why they just walk away from their church, rarely to return.
Certainly we can look briefly at some of the obvious reasons such as doctrinal differences, internal politics, or simply the "human" conditions that cause lost or broken friendships and wounds that seem too deep to heal -- but more importantly, I think the real reason for this exodus from the church is because we've gone away from the true word of God. The Bible and its foundational teachings are absent so there is no real substance to help overcome the problems that the enemy creates. -- Let's never forget that Satan wants nothing more than to see people sitting in their homes rather than fellowshipping with Christian brothers and sisters.
Before we go any further, let's look at what Jesus taught concerning the condition of the seeds. In Matthew 13:3-9 the Parable of the Sower shows us what will take place.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
In the first instance, we see seeds that fell along the path. -- And what happened? The birds ate them. -- These seeds remind me of those who've either chosen not to pursue God or have attempted but received no foundation, no exposure, no substance, no training, no soil -- and quickly perished. Scripture says in Mark 4:12:
...so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'
Second, we see the seeds that fell in rocky places where there was little soil. These seeds are those that seek and then flourish for a moment, but the minute any adversity comes their way, they also quickly fall away and perish. -- Again, there is no foundation -- no roots deep enough to help them stand in times of trial. - Matthew 7:26-27 says,
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Thirdly, we watch the seeds that fell among the thorns -- and were choked off by them. These seeds remind me of those who have, or are participating in some form of worship, but have been misled or deceived by all the outside influences that exist today. Certainly the world is one of the influences. James 4:4 says,
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Another is false doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 states,
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
- Also, 1 Timothy 4:1 says,
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Continuing, 1Timothy 6:20-21 goes on to say,
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.
I, along with many others of the faith, have warned about these dangers in today's church. With the growing acceptance of alternative lifestyles and compromise, those "seeds" without a strong foundation will be choked off by these thorns that represent deception. - To sum it up, Matthew 7:21-23 says
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
And finally, we see the seeds that fell in the good soil. This is obviously those of us who've either received or taught ourselves the truths of our savior's kingdom. We are the seeds who have the foundations to weather whatever storms come our way. We are equipped to handle the storms of life.
Now lets go back to what we were discussing in the beginning -- Pastor Dave's vision of bringing the "lost sheep" back into the fold.
But before we begin this process, we must first look at what we have to offer these wounded souls. We must remember why they left in the first place, and not set ourselves up to repeat the same failed process. -- Let's face it, attendance in today's churches is, for the most part, stagnant or declining. -- It's simply because we've lost the passion and joy of what it is to be in love with Jesus.
Tragically, many leaders in today's churches believe that if they can "get them to attend church, the we have them." -- Nothing could be further from the truth! -- To prove this, George Barna, a Christian pollster, showed that after the 9/11 attack, many unbelievers flocked into the church for about six-eight weeks. But when they looked around and saw what was - or wasn't happening, they soon returned home to stay.
So what will make the difference?! What does the church need to do to change this?! Once again, let's go to scripture.
The best example is in Acts 2:42-47:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
What do we see here? What did they do that changed the world?!
◆ First -- They devoted themselves to teaching -- they built the foundation (good soil) to weather the storms -- (Remember, they were under tremendous persecution and still survived and grew!)
◆ Second -- Fellowship. They ate and prayed together. (We don't seem to have time for this anymore.)
◆ Third -- In awe of God! -- And because of this, many signs and wonders were experienced. (How often do we see this today?)
◆ Fourth -- All were together and had everything in common. They knew each other. (Again, sometimes two hours on Sunday a.m. is all we have time for.)
◆ Fifth -- Needs were met -- Things were bought and sold to take care of each other.
◆ Sixth -- Met together -- daily in church or at homes -- praying and eating and rejoicing together - enjoying the favor of all the people.
◆ Seventh -- Their numbers grew -- and more and more were being saved! (Is there anything more important than this?)
In conclusion, Pastor Dave's vision is a good and honorable challenge and I believe more churches need to share in this. -- However, the church needs to be prepared, in advance, to rise up to this challenge.
How do we do it? - The "Acts" church showed us how! -- They simply lived by the simple truths of scripture -- they didn't just talk it!
Finally, Jesus says in Mark 12:30-31,
"...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 'There is no commandment greater than these."
If we simply do this, the rocks will be moved and the thorns will die and these seeds will thrive -- and there will be rejoicing in the Kingdom!
Until next time,
Red