Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Reaching the Far Lost, How would Jesus do it?

Living and Discipling among the Lost -The Far Lost

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

First, I don’t think Jesus concentrated on those who were hostile to the gospel. On the other hand, He didn’t ignore them either. Jesus focused most of His efforts on those who were seeking. Whether it was spiritual truth or just being healed of disease, Jesus did not force Himself on anyone. He provided an environment of truth and grace and the people were free to come and go as they pleased (Jn 6.66).


Some may count the woman at the well (Jn 4.4-30), Zacheus (Lk 19.1-10), and the demoniac (Mk 5.1-20) as the far lost but they were all converted in a relatively short amount of time (leading one to believe that they weren’t as far away as one might think). Generally, we see the far lost as one who is hostile or apathetic toward spiritual truths. Much time and effort needs to be expended toward inching them toward the Kingdom. Based on this reality, these folks tend to be family members, lifelong friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I like to look at these relationships as “simmering” in an environment of truth and grace. Due to many factors these people may not embrace Jesus as their Messiah in a short period of time.


We all engage in these kinds of relationships and although they are tough, we certainly don’t give up. We do what Jesus did. We serve and love them. We continue to live out our witness to Jesus’ power in our own lives. And, yes, we speak truth and warnings into their lives as appropriate. When we study Jesus’ approach, He was very free with His compassion for the people. He demonstrated sacrificial love and spoke poignant truth with anyone who would listen (Jn 1.14,17). But even then there was not a guarantee that they would make Him their Savior and Lord (Jn 6.44). Although Jesus made considerable investments in serving and preaching to the multitudes, we see Jesus bearing most of His fruit with the spiritually hungry, who are ripe unto harvest (Jn 4.35-39). How you sow your seed has a direct correlation to the crop you will yield.

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