Good Grief (3)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Luke 13.34, 35

Wrong attitudes toward the lost
It is impossible to imagine Jesus saying this with a smiling face. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (Jn. 1.11). The pain of rejection must have been added to by the grief Jesus felt at the lost condition of the people of Jerusalem. They had hardened their hearts toward God, despising His prophets, disobeying His Word, and now, repudiating His Messiah.

The terrible plight of lost men and women grieved Jesus Christ, and it should grieve us as well.

I cringe whenever I hear some preacher ranting on against secular humanists, or read some Christian blogger spouting off against Darwinists, postmodernists, or any of the other usual suspects against whom Christians rage these days. We see very little of such an attitude in the Scriptures, whether of the Old or the New Testaments. Yes, there is an occasional prophetic outburst, but for the most part, the prophets’ harshest condemnations are for those who claim to believe in God. Still, the condemnations and words of judgment proclaimed against the unbelieving world by prophets and apostles can be frightening (cf. Rom. 1.18-32; 2 Pet. 2.1-17; Jude 1.1-11).

Granted, we must alert the Church to strange winds of doctrine that can blow us off course with the Lord. But it’s important to bear in mind that all such strange winds are borne about in the world by people who are made in the image of God. And, as C. S. Lewis wrote, these are immortal souls, for whose lostness we should grieve. We are not inspired, like the apostles, so that we can pronounce with finality against any who are lost. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and our attitude must be the same (Lk. 19.11).

We must remember that lost people are at all times lost! They denounce our faith because they have not come to know the Lord. They heap scorn upon our convictions, mock us as ignorant and unreasoning, and practically go into apoplexy over our moral positions because they perceive the Gospel as a threat to their autonomy and their fun.

But what is it about any of that which can justify our resorting to name-calling, character assassination, gossip, or condescending and demeaning language? Jesus sorrowed over the lost condition of the people of His day, and we must abide no other attitude toward the unbelievers of our own.

Sorrowing and grieving for the plight of the lost is yet another form of good grief we must nurture in our hearts.

Without hope
Lost people do not know the Lord. As we have seen, they have put their hopes for meaning and happiness in things which cannot last, and time and time again they’ve been disappointed and discouraged. They spend their days in a mindset of getting and spending, keeping up with – if not ahead of – their friends and co-workers, and trying to feel good about their chosen course in life. They live with guilt, which they must continually rationalize; and the fear of death haunts them throughout their lives (Heb. 2.15). Because they can discover no deeply satisfying meaning and purpose to life, they fill their waking hours with work, diversions, and various inane and sensual experiences, all the while continually asking themselves, “Am I having fun yet?”

Just think of the bumper stickers you see on the cars that race past you on the highway: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” “Life’s a bitch; then you die.” “My kid can beat up your kid.” “How’s my driving? 1-800- EAT _ _ _ _” Do these sound like the boastings of people who are really satisfied with their lives? Listen to the anger, the blame-laying and name-calling, and the tribalism that passes for politics, journalism, and higher education in our day. Do these people seem to you to be at peace living contented lives?

Of course not. And the reason is that lost people are lost! Dead in their trespasses and sins, as Paul puts it. Cut off from the hope and promises of God. Without an anchor for their souls. Trapped in a downward spiral of unbelief, idolatry, sensuality, sin, and death (cf. Eph. 2.1-12; Rom. 1.18-32).

And their prospects beyond this life are bleaker still. No wonder Jesus so often warned His hearers about the eternal judgment to come.

Grieve for the lost
If the confusion, fear, uncertainty, vanity, anger, and ultimate destiny of the lost doesn’t break our hearts, then we don’t have the heart of Jesus beating in our souls. Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, was deeply grieved over the sinful plight of the people of His day. If we would be truly His followers, then we must train our hearts to grieve for the lost people around us in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, communities – even our churches.

Who knows, if such grief becomes established in our souls, it may lead us to reach out to the people around us with the Good News of hope and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We might pray for our lost friends and neighbors more than we do, or make sure that, when we are with them, we give them a foretaste of the world to come in all our words, deeds, and demeanor.

Let the troubled lives of the lost trouble your soul, so that you groan with longing for them to know the salvation of the Lord.

Grieving and sorrowing for the lost condition of the people around us is good grief, and good grief is an essential component of a well-kept heart. Let us seek the Lord to nurture such sympathetic sorrowing in our souls.

For reflection
1.  Read Romans 3 and Ephesians 2.1-12. What is it about being lost that should cause us to have compassion toward lost people and to grieve for their plight?

2.  Suggest some ways we might pray for those whose lostness causes us to grieve.

3.  Should we fear to befriend lost people? Why or why not? What dangers do we need to be mindful of in so doing? What opportunities can we expect?

Next steps - Conversation: Whom will you talk with today? At school or work? In the grocery store or at the post office? In your neighborhood? How can you prepare for these conversations so that you make the most of each opportunity for making Jesus known? Let your soul grieve for any lost people you will see, and let the Lord fill your heart with love for them.

T. M. Moore

Focusing on Jesus
All the installments in this “Strong Souls” series are available in PDF by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.