Whatever It Costs...

Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost."

Mark 2:17 (NLT) - "When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."


I read a great editorial about the life and mission of Abraham Lincoln, a man who was committed, not simply in word, but in deed, to the complete elimination of slavery in our country. (If you are interested, you can read it, here.) Lincoln's plan was to use government funding to buy back all of the slaves in Delaware and emancipate them. I was overwhelmed by the beauty in this narrative.

Just think what the world would be like, if we, as Christians, cared enough about those who were slave to sin, that we would spend any amount of resources necessary (and not just monetary resources) to insure that they heard the gospel. Imagine how quickly the whole world would come to hear about Christ, if we took seriously our responsibility to help set enslaved people free from sin.

Jesus tried to remind us during the course of his ministry that he came to seek and to save the lost. He left us with that mission when he went to prepare a place for us. The question is, what are we willing to sacrifice, or pay out, or sweat through to carry the torch of his ministry?

...or do we still struggle with the thought of being in the same room as an unbeliever?...


Matthew 9:11-13 (CEV) - Some Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?" Jesus heard them and answered, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and learn what the Scriptures mean when they say, `Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others.' I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners."