Reaching the Lost
Paul writes in II Timothy 3, “This know also,
that in the last days perilous
times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, holy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…”
Who would doubt that we are indeed
now living in these perilous times? It
seems the verse is not talking about the peril of all men, but specifically spiritual
perils that will face the faithful in Christ. The pride, covetousness, blasphemy,
ungodliness, and treachery of men dominates the earth. Everywhere we turn we are confronted by
it. On almost every television channel
its thrust into our homes. From almost
every radio station its thrust into our ears.
Every industry seems to be moved by greed, lust, and pride. False teachers cry out from pulpits to
denominational churches and rule the airwaves and publishing industry. People who profess faith in God and a desire
to live pure and righteously are bombarded by the darkness born from the devil
and his ministers. Indeed, perilous
times for the faithful are upon us!
But we should not look at the world
with an “us versus them” state of mind.
We should not stand among the faithful few and look out at our countless
worldly oppressors as people we
As
members of the Lord‘s church, we need to constantly remind ourselves of our
purpose. Why does the church of Christ
exist and what is our main objective as members? In order to understand the purpose of the
church, we need to understand what the church is. In I Corinthians 12:27, it says of the church
that “You are the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 1:22,23 say that the church is the fullness of Christ and,
again, that the church is his body.
There are many more verses that speak of the church as the body of
Christ, leaving us with the simple fact that the church is the representative
of Christ here in this world.
Now
that we know what the church is, we can talk about its purpose. In order to understand the purpose of the
church, we simply need to know the purpose of Christ. Matthew 18:11 makes it very clear: “For the
son of man is come to save that which is lost.”
So often in the Gospels Christ speaks of himself as a shepherd tending
to his sheep. In the verses that follow
in Matthew 18, he speaks of a man having a hundred sheep, and the labor and
love he puts into recovering one that is lost.
Verse 13 says that he rejoices more over recovering the one lost sheep
than he does over the 99 which he has.
Here is demonstrated the purpose of the church: to reach out to the lost
and bring them to knowledge of Christ.
If
the church does not labor in bringing the lost to Christ, who will? This is our work. This is our mission. This is our purpose. Filling the pews every Sunday morning would
be glorious, but the work does not end there.
Every new soul brought into Christ is a fulfillment of our mission,
every lost sheep shown the path to light and righteousness is our aim. Christ tells us that, “Ye are the light of
the world” (Matt. 5:14). Let’s not keep
our light hidden from a perilous, suffering world that so desperately needs
us. Let’s commit ourselves to this great
purpose, this great work, knowing that “if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost…” (II Cor. 4:3)
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