Called to Seek the Lost

It has been over a week since my replacement at the dairy barn showed up. It took me a few days to recover, and if it weren't now so bitterly cold, I might be missing it... Milking cows that is, and gathering stray lambs. My replacement is accustomed to working hard, but knowing just a fraction of that hard work, I have felt sorry for him. So I baked cookies! :)

This morning the boys and I made an unexpected trip to town after Craig called with truck troubles. Despite the frigid temperatures, the sun was shining brightly and I felt an uncommon joy in my heart amidst a rather frustrating circumstance. (The broken down truck...which is now fixed by the way.) As the boys chattered in the backseat, I began to whisper prayers of thanksgiving. We have SO very much to be thankful for. All of us do. Yes YOU too! Even on our worst day...

My prayers turned to the gratefulness I feel for my husband and our marriage...to the grief I feel over so many hurting marriages in our society...and to the children involved.

This got me thinking about something.... Often I hear preachers and Christian lay people criticize the Church for its lack of evangelizing the lost. It's true the Church can be guilty of ineffectiveness sometimes. However, this comment always leaves me wondering what I am supposed to do.

In my day to day life I am not exposed to many lost people. Oh sure, I pass them on the street and in the aisles of the grocery store. My countenance and demeanor should certainly be Christ-like. If I can offer a hand with something on the top shelf, point someone in the right direction, or let them go ahead of me in line...I should. But, can I really evangelize strangers? Isn't it more likely that a lost person would be led to the Lord by someone they have a relationship with beyond a kind smile in passing?

So what am I to do?

Is my lifestyle as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom wrong because I'm at home the majority of the time and not out seeking the lost? Do I need to put my children in school with lost kids, and take a job so I can be around lost people all day? Do I need to over schedule my family in extra activities merely so we can forge relationships with the lost? Should we go knock on doors or move to a third world country?

I think the answer to these questions is a resounding NO! Not that those who choose to do these things are wrong, but that just isn't what God has called ME to at this time.

Does this mean I'm not called to evangelize? No.

I just happen to think that God sees this evangelism thing from a much broader view and sometimes (but not always) we are called to do it in a more indirect way.

What do I mean by that?

Okay, so take me for example. Who is in my sphere of influence? Most of the time, that is going to be a bunch of people who are a whole lot like me. Our lives are similar, we do similar things, we face similar struggles...we understand each other. Are they Christians? More times than not, yes. So am I wasting my time by investing in them? If they are already Christians, am I "fishing in a dry hole?"

Let's take this further with a hypothetical... Say I have a friend (we'll call her Jane) who is married with small children. Let's even say Jane is married to a Christian man (John) and they attend church regularly as a family. I have a close relationship with Jane and one day she tells me of some marital troubles between she and John. When she tells me of her troubles I can respond in one of two ways. I can either feed her discontent by criticizing John and pointing out how much better she deserves, or I can pray for her and encourage her to work hard at her marriage even though it isn't easy. If I choose the former and Jane ends up divorcing John, who then besides Jane and John are affected? Remember those small children? Yes Jack and Jill will be profoundly affected by their broken home. Perhaps they may even blame God and want nothing to do with Christ or His Church.

...and so goes the cycle...

Evangelism.

Not so cut and dried is it?

I think our Churches would do well to "focus on the family." If we want to evangelize our neighborhoods, our Country and the world....we have to start at HOME! Falling apart marriages and families can not effectively go out and reach the lost.

None of these thoughts come from a heart that thinks I'm better than any one of you. Period! In fact, after I wrote the above hypothetical, I realized that I have been guilty of choosing the wrong response in a situation very similar. As far as my own marital struggles, I have not been any more immune than anyone else. We are ALL vulnerable. I just want to see us help one another in this area because it is that important. By no means am I implying that those who have been down the road of divorce are deemed forever ineffective. Certainly I believe our God is all about redemption.

Be encouraged today. Regardless of what your home life is like, you can start to make it better just by seeking first God's Kingdom and HIS righteousness. Let Jesus heal your heart and home.

THEN.....go and share what the LORD has done!!

Be an encourager to those who are in your sphere of influence, realizing that the effects go much further below the surface than you could ever imagine.

God Knows.

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