This morning I made a casual Twitter-post about going to a bar for lunch today to spend time with “lost” people. Needless to say, I received a number of interesting (and understandable) responses. First, it sounds arrogant to presume that I am saved and have the solution for lost people. Second, it sounds judgmental to insinuate that a person in a bar is categorically lost. Finally, it sounds offensive to be labeled ”lost,” especially if your life is pretty good.
Before we delve deeper in the idea of being lost, let me respond to each of these points. First, I don’t believe that I have the solution for lost people, I believe God does however. Second, I’m not insinuating that any person who enters into a bar is lost, just as I’m not insinuating that any person who enters into a church is saved. Jesus spent a lot of his time in bar settings and was even accused of over-indulging once in a while—He was certainly not lost. Finally, I do not choose what to say based on it’s potential for offense (although I do want to be as gracious as possible).
Still, Jesus makes the potentially-offensive and politically-incorrect statement that He has come “to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). The irony in this passage is that Jesus’ words are spoken tongue-in-cheek. He is playing on the competing worldviews of the “sinners” and the religious establishment. The “sinners” are clearly lost because they are selfish, greedy, and oppressive. But the religious establishment is just as lost because they are harsh, judgmental, and unforgiving. By judging the “sinners,” the Religious misjudge their own lostness.
More to the point: the only saved person in the Luke 19 story is the penitent Sinner. He acknowledges his lostness, follows Christ, and begins to live a life of self-sacrifice and service to others. When people marvel at this spiritual irony, Jesus explains that He lives for the lost. And if we are going to be saved (ie. become followers of Christ) then we need to live for the lost as well.
Thus my desire to get out of the church and into an atmosphere of lostness. Too many churches say “come into our building/fellowship and become like us.” Not enough churches go out into the world. Too many churches say “come join our church and help us serve one another.” Not enough churches say “let’s go out and serve people very different from us.” So what did Jesus do? John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” He didn’t just call us to heaven, He came to earth to seek and save what was lost.
So what is a lost person anyway? A lost person is sinner who is disconnected from God due to his/her own selfish desires. But a lost person is also a self-righteous, religious person who is disconnected from God due to his/her own spiritual certitude. The best thing to be is another thing altogether—a penitent sinner who acknowledges the need for Christ, and follows Him by living a life of self-sacrifice and service to others.
