Those who are lost

In our Wednesday night time this week, we meditated on and discussed Jesus’ words in Luke 19:10…
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
One of the things that we can overlook is that Jesus does not stop seeking and saving us once we are baptized. I think we often fall into the trap of looking at saved and lost as a “black and white” issue. While it is certainly true that we are saved when we are baptized into Christ, that is not where the saving stops. Salvation is both an event and a process.
The event that occurs at baptism enters us into a covenant with God that promises eternal life. There is something very significant and important about that event. It gives us hope and a future.
At the same time, anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time knows that at baptism we do not suddenly become people who are never tempted, never make mistakes, and don’t need to be saved any longer. Salvation is also a process because we still need to be transformed and conformed to the image of the Son on a daily basis.
When it comes to following Jesus, being saved and lost is a “full-color” issue; it’s not just “black and white.” While we have the security of God’s promises as Christians, we also continue to struggle with life. Here are a few examples I shared with my students on Wednesday…
When a close friend or family member dies suddenly, you feel lost.
When your parents tell you they are planning to get divorced, you feel lost.
When someone starts a rumor that spreads through the school and damages your reputation, you feel lost.
The list could go on and on of situations where even those who are committed followers of Jesus can feel lost. While being lost can describe our relationship with God, it can also describe where we find ourselves in life at any given time. As I said earlier, being saved is both an event and a process.
Christians who are allowing themselves to be conformed to the image of Jesus should be living out his desire to “seek and save those who are lost.” This means that not only do we help lead people to the event of salvation through baptism, we also stand beside each other through life as we go through the process of salvation on a daily basis.
This calls us to a higher level of commitment with one another. We must trust one another and hold each other accountable. We must be willing to share our struggles while not allowing one another to be comfortable with our sins. We must pray for one another, challenge one another, and encourage one another.
Seeking and saving the lost is not for the timid. It is a radical commitment to a relationship with God and others.

shine!
Jason