Loving the Lost

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22

Who are the lost? In our culture, we think of the lost as those who are in need of something physical or emotional. Those who are going through something that causes great pain. We look at those who are suffering, or those who are causing suffer, but what about those who seem to have their life together, the person who is financially, mentally, and emotionally fit? Are those people anymore lost than the homeless person, or the person going through an emotional ordeal? We tend to look at the outside to see a person spiritual condition, but anyone who has not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior is lost. Even if they have a wonderful life here on earth, or just because they go to church every week doesn’t make them saved either. It comes down to one question, “do we have a love for the lost?” Do we have enough love for them to share what Christ has done for them.  

Penn Jillette, said this about those who don’t evangelize, “How much do you have to hate someone to really believe that they are in eternal danger and just keep your mouth shut for the sake of social convenience.” Penn is an atheist, and he said this after a sincere Christian gave him a bible after one of his shows. I wonder how many people are atheists, not because they don’t believe in God, but by how they have been treated by Christians in the past. I think about the places I have worked at in the past. The Christians spend their time together, looking down on the non-Christians, judging them, instead of reaching out to them. It’s sad that an atheist convicts us to evangelize, and move past our social convenient life.

What would happen if we had a passion for the lost as Paul had in Romans 9:1-4a? “I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” How would our desire to reach out to those who don’t know Christ change? We look at our churches and say how they are growing, buy Barna reports that three-fourths of church growth is membership transfers. That means three-fourths of church growth is Christians moving from one church to another. It also means that only one-fourth are new Christians. Do we really consider what will happen to our family members, neighbors, friends, co-workers who don’t know Christ? We live in a nation that focuses more on material possessions, than spiritual possessions. Read the section of Scripture below to help better understand what will happen to those who are separated from God.

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" Luke 16:19-31

What is the responsibility of the Christian? What have we been commanded to do with our lives? The answer is in Matthew 28:19-20. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Paul, in Acts 26:18 was given this charge to him by Christ, “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'” Are we any different than Paul, have we not been given the great commission to preach the gospel to all?

But we must always keep in mind that our eyes need to be focused on Christ to live out this command. If we try it on our own, we will fail, if we try it by the plan of man, we will fail. We can only accomplish this by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must rely on Him, we must look to Him, and we must go to God in prayer to show us how to live it out. Loving those near us can be easy at times, but loving the lost can be hard. They don’t live like us, and so we shy away from them at times. We need to live like Paul, who loved those who were cut off, who didn’t have a Savior and Lord. And so we must cultivate a love for those in our lives who don’t know the Gospel. To remember what is in their future if they don’t accept Christ. “What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.” 1 Corinthians 9:18-21

Loving Your Enemy

One question before we look at loving our enemy. Should the Christian have enemies in their life? If a Christian is living out the Gospel, loving God, loving his/her neighbor, and loving those around them as God loves them, will they have enemies? Many would say we shouldn’t have enemies if we are living out the Christian faith, but the opposite is true. If we are living out our faith we will make more enemies then if we didn’t walk with God, as we can see from the Scriptures below.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. 

-Luke 6:26

All men will hate you because of me. 

-Luke 21:17

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. -John 15:19

Ryan Akers, from his sermon “Who Is Your Enemy?” says, “How many of you (don’t raise your hands) have ever had somebody in your life that you just couldn’t stand? That when they walked into the room when you saw them or heard there voice you just cringed. You were instantly annoyed. When someone even just mentions their name we are just like, “Man I can’t stand them. They did this or they do that. Or they did this and really hurt me, or when they are around they act like this and it’s just annoying.” I don’t know why you can’t stand this person. Maybe they hurt you. Maybe they are a know it all or are incredibly demanding or are always wanting their own way. Maybe they are incredibly selfish. But for whatever reason I have a hard time believing that most if not all of us in here at one time or another have not had someone come into our lives that challenged our patience.”[i]

Usually when we hear the word enemy we think of someone who wants to cause us harm, who is hostile to us, or is an adversary. What is your definition of an enemy? How would you describe someone who is your enemy and what makes them an enemy in your life? As we think about this, let’s not narrow it down to those who we consider an enemy, but include those who consider us their enemy. What about those whom we have hurt, ridiculed, or threatened. And we have plenty of silent enemies in our lives. Those are people who we treat as if we like them, but deep down we can’t stand them. We never let them know we consider them an enemy, and if they do know, we both act as if we are not. Do you have any silent enemies? So who are your enemies? How do you deal with them in your life? Or do you avoid them as much as possible?

What does Scripture call us to do with our enemies? Romans 12:14-21 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” What Scripture says about loving an enemy goes against what the world says we should do. It also goes against what we think in our minds when we have an enemy in our life. Romans 12 says to bless them, rejoice with them, mourn with them, do not repay, live in peace if possible, do not take revenge, and leave room for God’s wrath. It can be hard to bless those who we hate, or strongly dislike, but to rejoice and mourn with them is even harder. We may not say it out loud, but we usually want to see justice done to them, and even gloat when it happens. But this goes against what God’s Word has called to do.

Matthew 5:43-45a says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Another way we can love our enemy is to pray for them. We cannot change another person’s mind or heart, only God can, but we can turn out attention to Him in prayer. It is not just a prayer to change them into what Christ wants them to be, and not what we want to them to be, but a prayer that God would bless and protected them. John Gill said, “What Christ here commands and advises to, he himself did; for as he hung upon the cross, he prayed for his crucifiers, who were then using him in the most despiteful, as well as cruel manner; saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do": and in this he has left us an example, that we should tread in his steps; and here in he was quickly followed by his holy martyr Stephen; who, whilst he was being stoned, prayed for his persecutors and murderers, saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge". This breathes out the true spirit of Christianity, and is peculiar to it.”[ii]

Luke 6:26-29 states, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.” Loving our enemy goes past just praying for them, but doing good for them, even blessing them, and turning the other cheek. We can pray for them without having them in front of us, we can even refrain from speak evil of them to others. But to do good for them is one of the hardest things to do at times. Jesus is our example as we read from 1 Peter 2:22-23,"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”  We are called to love them, but this doesn’t mean that God won’t deal with them justly, He will. That is His job, not ours, so when our enemy looks to harm us, let us remember who the judge is, and that is a position we do not hold.

What happens to you when you experience suffering and loss in your life? What happens when those you love, hurt you? When we love someone we have to keep in mind we love a limited person. We have in our minds what we want that person to be; we have a fantasy of someone who has boundless energy to give us, boundless love to offer us when we need it, and boundless trust. We have built up in our minds someone who does not and cannot exist. And when that limited person shows us their limits, we want to run from them. When they show us their selfishness, their coldness, their half-heartedness and their mean spirit, we feel deeply hurt and deeply angry. We want to withhold our love for them, we feel abandon, so we want to abandon, we feel tossed aside, so we want to toss them aside, we feel hurt, so we want to hurt them.

In Ephesians Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body.”

As we think about what Paul said, we must keep in mind that we are the bride. We are a nasty, hard-hearted, mean-spirited, selfish, ambitious, self-serving mean bride at times. We are limited, like those in our lives who have hurt us. Christ didn’t suffer, and die for a bride who is pure and spotless. Romans 5:8 states, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When we hear the words sinner, do we really truly understand the full measure of it? Romans 1:29-32 says, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” And what was Christ response to the list in Romans 1:29-32, while they were wicked, evil, depraved, greedy, self-serving, slanders, arrogant, boastful, heartless and cold to one another, Christ died for them. This is the church Christ died for in Ephesians. This is the bride who we are, and what has Christ demanded from us? “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) When another turns their backs on you, what does Jesus call us to do, “Love them as I have loved you.” When others treat you with coldness, what does Jesus expect of you? Love them as I have loved you. When others slander you, what does Jesus want from us? Love them as I have loved you. When they belittle you in front of others, how does Christ want us to respond? Love them as I have loved you. When you feel betrayed, what does Jesus demand from us? Love them as I have loved you. When someone shows us their limits, what do we need to do? Love them as Jesus loves us.

“Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy’s hatred, the greater his need of love.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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[i] Ryan Akers, Who Is Your Enemy? Romans 12:14-21

  http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/who-is-your-enemy-ryan-akers-sermon-on-forgiveness-for-others-90800.asp

[ii] John Gill, John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, E-Sword

Loving the Least

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

-Matthew 25:31-46

Who is the least? When you think about the word “least” you probably think of the homeless, or those who are in deep need, the ones in society that are forgotten. But let’s rethink this definition. Think to yourself about who is the least in your life. It may not be the person who you think of being the least, in regards to the time you give them, or who you think of as unimportant. The least maybe the person who you look down on, someone whom you resent, or the one you despise the most. For example, some might regard the powerful executive who has all the world has to offer as the least. Others might think of those who are living in a bad part of town as the least. While others might think of a person of a lower education, and some might think of the CEO of their company as the least. Each one of us has people we view as the least. It may be the person who you can’t stand to be around, or a person who you think needs to grow up. We need to expand our thoughts on the idea of who is the least. Because when we just think the least are those who possess little, then we forget about those who we truly see as the least.

So how do you figure out who you truly consider the least in your life? Think about those who you don’t want to spend time with, those who you look down on, those whom you resent, these are most likely those you truly consider the least. It could be a member of your family that you see every day. They could be the person who you pass by on your way to work, or the store clerk at the grocery, or the well dressed man at the coffee shop. Who do you pay the least attention to throughout your day? Or who do you think about the most, but in a negative way? Who is someone you have not forgiven that you see as the least, because they have hurt you. Or the person you resent because they show little regard for you, or the person who sees you as the least. As you can see, there are probably many people in our lives we consider the least. Another way of thinking about this is to look at who you refuse or don’t want to serve the most; they might be the least in your life. There are people we think don’t deserve our time or our service because we see them as the least.

The difficult part of Matthew 25:31-46 is that our service or lack of service to the least is a mirror image of how we love God. I never thought of it until a friend pointed it out to me one day as he read the section of Scripture. It made me think about those in my life that I considered the least. It wasn’t those who had little, it was those who had plenty that I considered the least in my life. I could have compassion for those who were hurting, those who have lost much, or who never had much in their lives, but what about those who had it all in regards to the world? The rich, the good looking, those who have what we want, these were the ones I looked down on. The ones I thought little of when it came to the Gospel.

Who needs to hear the Gospel more, the rich or the poor, the disadvantaged, or the advantaged? The answer is they both need it, no matter where we are in life, we need God. Instead of serving one section of society, we need to serve all who are in need of Christ love. Not just those who we think are the most important, but also those who we see as the least.

But how do we live it out!! It’s easy to get discouraged, or feel like we failed, but that is how we will feel if we become overwhelmed by those whom we have not loved in a biblical way. When we start to see how little we truly love, we can’t become discouraged because we can’t live it out perfectly. No one can live it out perfectly because we are fallen, sinful people.  The idea is to start small, to begin to love those around us differently, biblically, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will all fail, we will all fall short, and we will all live selfishly. The idea is to open our eyes to a new way of loving one another, but this doesn’t mean to think we have to be perfect every day, because we won’t. The idea is to make a start, for example, think of someone in your life that you can begin with, and work on one person at a time. When I think about Jesus living out this kind of love, it was one person at a time. He loved the women at the well, Zacchaeus, Peter, Nicodemus, the adulterous women, Mary Magdalene, and many more. He didn’t write down a list of all those He needed to love; He just loved those who were in front of Him at the time. The same is true for us; all we need to do is love those who are in front of us, one person at a time. If we think about all those whom we have loved very little, and think about how we have failed, we will feel condemned and give up, that is exactly what Satan wants you to do. And if you try to love others biblically without the Spirit’s work, then you will fail also. In our own strength we love very little, and if we try harder, and look at all we have to do we will fail also. Jesus said to live one day at a time, and it is also true with people, love one person at a time. 

The Art of War – Laying Plans

In Sun Tzu classic, The Art of War, he states “The art of war is essential to the state… it is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” As I think about what he has to say I can see how the art of war is essential to the state of the soul, do we wage war against evil, temptation and sin in our lives, and in the lives of others? Or do we sit by passively, watching, but in reality, we are then just causalities of war, not victors.

Or maybe we fight the wrong enemy; we fight against those we live with, those we call friends, those in our family, or those we come into contact with that we disagree on many issues. But is that the real enemy? Ephesians 6:12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  We usually fight against those who are not the true enemy, but at times, looks like the enemy; they maybe a pawn, so we tend to fight against them, the flesh and blood of Ephesians 6:12, instead of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We fight with hurtful words, attitudes, coldness, or harshness against those we are called to love. We become distracted by the wrong enemy, while we need to fight on our knees in prayer, against a foe we cannot win against in our own strength.

Our fight is with the wrong in our own life, the sin which lives in us, the enemy that lives within us, the flesh. We also fight against the system of the world that tries to convince us what we need to do or be. From what we should own, how we should treat one another, and how we need to succeed at the cost of others. The world longs for us to live in a way that contrast what Scripture says in how to live. And then we have our greatest foe, the devil, who uses each one of these against us, he also uses those in our lives to wage war with us at times, and he entices our own desires, and thoughts. “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16) 

Going back to the book, The Art of War, the chapter is called Laying Plans. So how are you waging war today? What plans are you laying with the Spirit to fight against your enemies? Or are you waging war at all, just being another causality of the enemy. Maybe you don’t look wounded, but you’re hindered by the ineffectiveness of sitting on the sidelines watching, waiting, for someone else to win the battle. A prayerless life, a silent witness, or a loss of hope, are all signs of passivity when it comes to a spiritual fight. We need to remember that God has won the war, it is He who we rely on, but it is He who calls us to do our part, and let Him do His. So are you laying plans, or just laying back?