Why we do what we do: Seek and Save

We are called to be transformed day by day into the image of Christ. And being transformed into the image of Christ means doing what Jesus did while he was on earth. He summarised his mission on earth as seeking and saving the lost. So that must be what we are all about too.

Often it can be easy to miss the wood for the trees. We get caught up in the busy-ness of Christian life. We have our programmes and events, and we put lots of energy and effort into them. But are they fruitful? Are they resulting in the lost being found, or are they just filling up our week with more meetings and Bible studies?

Don’t get me wrong, growth in our faith is important, and we should definitely be part of groups that help us lean in to God and experience more of what He has to teach us. But we aren’t just called to grow in our own faith. We are called to share it to the ends of the earth. Which means we must also be involved in seeking and saving the lost.

Often a lot of what happens in church can be about keeping those who are already believers safe inside the fold, and there is a level of contentment that can creep in. We become content just making sure the old faithful are staying faithful, rather than expanding our vision outward to the many more who aren’t yet part of the Kingdom.

Jesus hasn’t called us to inward vision. He desires that we look outward, to the lost and broken. He hasn’t called us to just worry about keeping the rules and being ‘clean-living’ – He longs for us to follow in His footsteps and seek and save the lost.

That must be at the centre of everything we do as Christians – a desire to seek and save the lost. When we grasp that mentality it will radically change how we spend our free time as we see every moment spent in front of the TV as a moment we could have been seeking the lost. It will change how we spend our work time as we see it as a God-given opportunity to share our faith with colleagues. It will change our priorities as we set aside things that don’t matter for the sake of the one thing that does – advancing God’s kingdom, bringing it on earth as in heaven.

We do what we do to seek and to save the lost. We do what we do for the sake of those who don’t yet know Jesus. Church isn’t about us. Our musical preferences are not important. What is important is that we are looking outward and inviting others in to encounter Jesus

 Mission work isn’t about us. It is not about going where is convenient or comfortable for us, but about where God wants to use us. Life isn’t about us. It is all about lifting high the name of Jesus so that those around us can see and hear that they need Him. We do what we do so that the blind may see, the deaf may heard and the lost may be found. We do what we do to for the sake of those who are lost, that through our lives they may come to know that they need saved.