At the time when Saint Columba passed some days in the province of the Picts, a certain layman with his whole household heard and believed the word of life, through an interpreter, at the preaching of the holy man; and believing, was baptized, the husband, with his wife and children, and his servants.
– Adomnán, Vita Columbae, Irish, 7th century[1]
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
– Acts 16.32, 33
“…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
– Luke 19.10
Churches in the evangelical tradition today are eager to attract people. They will do whatever, within bounds, they can think of and afford to make their neighbors feel welcome.
Changes in liturgy, lighting, music, programming, labeling, seating, staffing, and even architecture and facilities are undertaken, often at considerable expense, to attract “seekers” to the morning service or some other activity, in the hope they’ll find something they like and come back.
Many churches have adopted some forms of contemporary pop or casual culture so that people who may wander in will feel more at home.
The competition among local churches to be the most attractive to the community can sometimes appear like an ecclesiastical beauty contest, each church vying to be hipper, spiffier, or more relevant than the others. But as long as the beholder we are trying to please is the tainted eye of the wrong-believing world, rather than the exalted King of Heaven, the form we present will, I believe, look less like the Psalm 45 Bride of the Lord and more like the bride of Hosea.
Where did we get the idea that to win the world we had to become like the world so as to attract the world to our buildings? After all, the Lord did not command the world to go to church; He commanded the Church to go to the world.
This is not how the Lord expects us to win the lost for His Kingdom. We have become a generation of non-evangelistic evangelicals, and we have a lot to learn from our forebears concerning how people come to Christ.
The “all things to all people” mentality of the modern Church represents a misapplication of Paul’s 1 Corinthians 9 philosophy of evangelism that compromises worship and church life and leaves the responsibility for getting saved on those who don’t even know they need it.
Rather than working so hard to attract people to our churches, we should be looking for ways into their lives, initiating conversations and friendships, opening our homes for hospitality, reaching out through loving service and genuine concern into our circles of neighbors, friends, and associates. And once we have become established as caring friends and companions, we will spare no effort to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God by every means in every season.
We should be working our Personal Mission Fields, sowing, cultivating, tending, and reaping as the Lord leads and enables. But most of us are not. We are content to let the lost find their way to us. Jesus came to seek the lost (Lk. 19.11); we try to convince the lost to seek Him by coming to our church.
When will this change? When each of us takes up the challenge of making disciples as we are going about in the everyday places and activities of our lives. As Jesus was sent to the world, full of grace and truth, to bring near the Kingdom of God, so He has sent us to our world to bring the joy of Christ and the blessings of His promises to those who are lost and without hope (Jn. 20.21).
Pray that God will renew our burden for the mission of making all the nations disciples, seeking the lost as we are going, and not waiting for them to find their way to us.
For Reflection
1. What opportunities for talking with someone about Jesus will you have today? How should you prepare?
2. How can daily prayer help you in becoming like Jesus a seeker of the lost (Lk. 19.10)?
Psalm 107.1-3 (Faithfulness: Great is Thy Faithfulness)
Lord, You are good, we give thanks and we praise You!
Your steadfast love will forever endure.
Let the redeemed who from trouble You rescue,
Gather and say that Your mercy is sure!
Lord for Your wondrous works, and for Your steadfast love,
We give You thanks, we exalt Your great Name!
We who from east and west, north and south gather,
Boldly redemption in Christ we proclaim!
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
More confidence in witnessing
Well, how timely is this? Tomorrow in our ReVision column we begin a new series on “The Confident Witness.” We’ll be looking at Paul and others to learn how we can become better seekers of the lost. If you aren’t signed up to receive ReVision three times a week, go to our website and scroll down to the bottom.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. May I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe? It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
T. M. Moore
All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Adomnán, p. 139.
