Tag: lost

Lostness

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WHEN PEOPLE AREN’T SEEKING TO BE SAVED

In pioneer missions, “lostness” is the urgent spiritual reality that mission workers encounter on a daily basis. They see firsthand how separation from the Creator affects people’s lives, inspiring them to leave everything to share the one message that can bring hope and restoration in Christ.

When Dan first arrived in the remote village, he was struck by the palpable sense of fear. The people lived in constant dread of vengeful spirits and angry ancestors. They offered sacrifices, performed rituals, and sought the counsel of local shamans, but their faces were etched with anxiety. Their hospitality was genuine, but their worldview was darkened. Dan quickly realized that ‘lostness’ wasn’t just a theological state; it was a palpable weight, a spiritual gravity that governed their every decision, from planting crops to naming a child. The gospel he carried—of a loving Savior who was victorious over evil—was not just a message of salvation, but the only hope of liberty to spiritual captives.

BIBLICAL REFLECTION ON LOSTNESS

Pioneer mission workers serving among the unreached understand the reality of “lostness” as the theological engine of their compassion and the urgent mandate of their mission. It is the truth that compels one to go, to stay, and to love, knowing that without Christ, all are eternally separated from God.

The lostness of mankind began in the Garden. The biblical story of lostness starts in the Garden of Eden, where humanity, through sin, rebelled against God. This act of disobedience broke humanity’s perfect relationship with its Creator, resulting in a profound and comprehensive state of lostness—spiritual death, separation from God, and a broken, sinful nature passed down through all generations. (Genesis 3:6-8; Romans 5:12; Isaiah 59:2)

Humans can’t do anything themselves to become unlost. We are completely incapable of saving ourselves. We cannot bridge the gap with God through our own good works, religious rituals, moral effort, or human wisdom. Lostness is a condition, not a behavior, and requires a divine, external act of redemption. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Romans 3:20) 

Humans are lost like stray sheep. The Bible compares people to sheep because sheep are, by nature, defenseless. Sheep need a shepherd to survive. A shepherd protects them from attacks, guides them to good grazing, and keeps watch so that none are lost. Sheep tend to wander from the herd and can become easy targets for predators. In a spiritual sense, people are prone to wander and become easy targets for our enemy, Satan. Without Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we are spiritually lost and unable to find God on our own. (Psalm 23; John 10:11–14; Psalm 53:2–3; Romans 3:11; Luke 15:3–7)

Everyone was lost once. The Gospel is a message of hope for everyone, including you, the missionary. All believers were once lost and found by the grace of God. This shared experience of being “un-lost” fuels compassion and humility in mission, knowing that God, in His love, sent Jesus to seek and save the lost. (1 Timothy 1:15)

Only God can find one who is lost. The missionary’s role is not to perform a miracle of heart transformation, but to be a faithful instrument through which God’s message is delivered. The human heart, in its natural state, is described as spiritually blind, deaf, and hostile to God. Only the Holy Spirit can remove the spiritual veil and regenerate a heart and enable it to respond in faith. God did for us what we could not do for ourselves (Romans 5:8). Even when we did not even realize we were lost, He knew our condition. So the Son of God left heaven to find us and bring us home. Jesus came to us when we couldn’t come to him. Jesus loved us when we couldn’t love him. Jesus gave us life when we couldn’t get it for ourselves. (Philippians 2:5–8; Matthew 18:11; John 3:16–18; 6:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Acts 16:14; 26:18; Ezekiel 36:26; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7) 

No one is too lost. No one is beyond God’s power to save. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). It can’t be done. So, what hope does a person have? Jesus responded, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26). If we need an example, then we can just look at Paul. He was a Christian-killer. He was hostile to Jesus and His followers. But he received mercy as a testimony that no one is too lost not to be found. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

God loves the lost. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10) This was Jesus’ mission statement, defining His ultimate purpose. He is the God of the lost and found. God’s love is not conditional on our being found, but is the motivation for finding us. The pioneer missionary’s heart for the lost mirrors the heart of God, who is not willing that any should perish. God’s profound love for a lost world is the ultimate motivation for mission. (John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 5:8) 

We can grow a love for the lost and faithfully tell them the good news. A heart for the lost is not an optional accessory for a pioneer missionary but a compelling necessity that fuels both our love and our labor. It’s a heart that reflects God’s own passion, compelling us to lovingly and faithfully communicate the good news to the unreached. This compels us to enter into their brokenness not with judgment, but with a deep, Christ-like love that sees their lostness and longs for their found-ness. Our task is to patiently demonstrate God’s love through our lives and, with all humility and boldness, to share the saving message of the Gospel, trusting that it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, not our own efforts. It is this combination of genuine love and faithful proclamation that makes our witness compelling. We don’t bring the “found-ness,” but we are the faithful messengers who bring the One who does.(Romans 10:14-15; John 13:35)

Lost people will act like they’re lost. Lost people, separated from the source of life and truth, will exhibit patterns of sin, spiritual darkness, futility, and brokenness. We see it in the broken promises, the unchecked anger, the hopeless fear. This is not a cause for judgment, but for compassion and a clear understanding of the spiritual reality at play. (Ephesians 4:18; 2:1-3; Romans 1:21-25) 

Heaven rejoices when one who is lost is found. The angels roar with joy when one sinner repents. (Luke 15:7, 10)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” — Luke 19:10

THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTIVATING A HEART FOR THE LOST

Here are some ways a pioneer missionary can cultivate a heart for the lost:

Daily Gospel Immersion. The most basic practice is to preach the gospel to oneself each day. A missionary’s love for the lost is an overflow of their gratitude for the grace they themselves have received. By meditating on their own “found-ness” in Christ, they are reminded of the profound love God has for them, which in turn motivates them to spread that same love with others. 

  • Reflect on your own lostness: Remember what life was like before Christ—the spiritual blindness, hopelessness, and brokenness. This memory humbles the heart and fills it with compassion rather than judgment.
  • Feast on the love of God: Spend time in God’s Word focusing on passages about His mercy, grace, and relentless pursuit of the lost. The more a missionary’s heart reflects on and is filled with God’s love, the more it will spill over to others. 
  • Fuel your spiritual life. In the challenging spiritual environment of the mission field, a missionary’s own soul can become parched. Their dependence on God in prayer for the lost is not just an act of ministry, but a lifeline that keeps them rooted in the gospel for their own heart, reminding them of the grace they have received. This prevents them from becoming a weary messenger of a message they are no longer living. (John 7:37-38) 

Pray with God-Sight. Prayer is not just a list of requests, but a way to align one’s heart with God’s. To pray specifically for the lost and unreached, a missionary’s heart begins to break for the same things that break God’s heart.

  • Pray for a change in perspective: It is not normal for a fully devoted disciple of Christ to have a consistently cold heart towards the lost. Ask God to give you His “God-sight” so that you can see the unreached people not just as a people group, but as individuals with names, stories, and eternal souls.
  • Pray for a release of compassion: Confess any apathy or cynicism in your heart and ask God to fill you with His compassion and mercy for those who are lost.

Lament and Intercede. A heart for the lost is often forged in the fires of lament and intercession. When a missionary truly enters into the pain and brokenness of the people around them, it moves them from a passive observer to an active intercessor.

  • Weep with those who weep: Allow yourself to feel the genuine grief of the lostness around you—the fear, the injustice, the futility. Don’t suppress or ignore this pain.
  • Pray for breakthroughs: Intercede for specific people, neighbors, and situations, believing that God alone has the power to change hearts and transform communities.

Cultivate Vulnerable and Loving Relationships. Relationships, especially deep ones, are the soil in which a heart for the lost grows. A missionary’s love for a people group is made tangible and real in their love for a person.

  • Listen to the Lost’s stories: Make an effort to listen deeply to the struggles, hopes, and fears of the unreached around you. This builds empathy and a love for them as people.
  • Be a faithful presence: Consistently show up and be with people. This demonstrates the steadfast love of God and allows others to see Christ in you.

PRAYER ACTION

Consider the Scriptures you cling to above. Consider lostness. Write a prayer for the kind of person you want to be around the lost.

REFLECTIONS ON BUILDING A PRACTICAL MINI-THEOLOGY OF LOSTNESS

Take some time to prayerfully draft your practical mini-theology of “lostness” by responding to these questions:

  • In what specific ways do the unreached people you serve demonstrate spiritual lostness (e.g., fear, idolatry, relational brokenness, hopelessness)?

example: God is… We are the kind of people who… It is most like us/me to… We/I will… We/I hold to…

  • How does remembering your own state of lostness before Christ impact your attitude and approach toward the unreached? How does a fresh understanding of your own “found-ness” in Christ fuel your compassion for those who are still lost?
  • How can you avoid judging the unreached people’s behaviors, knowing that “lost people will act like they are lost”? How does their lostness fuel compassion? 
  • How does your theology of lostness compel you to depend entirely on the power of the Holy Spirit for conversions and transformation? How do you remind yourself that the power to bring about “found-ness” is God’s alone, and your role is to be a faithful presence and messenger?
  • Once you finish, share your responses with your mentor. Ask for feedback. Adjust your draft as needed.
  • Complete a one-page practical mini-theology.

RESOURCES FOR GOING DEEPER:

6 Essentials for Proclaiming the Gospel

Posted in Acts, attributes of God, Books of Acts, culture, evangelism, gospel, preachingTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

proclaim it

I have read dozens of books on evangelism. I have sat in conferences and seminary level courses on how to share my faith. I have equipped churchgoers with tools to present the good news to neighbors, strangers, and foreigners. On paper, I have a lot of knowledge and experience sharing the gospel, but in reality I still feel inadequate when it comes to personal evangelism.

I find the Book of Acts an indispensable and encouraging guide for proclaiming the gospel. It is heads above all other resources on evangelism available today. I am able learn all I need to know to share the gospel in the 21st Century by how 1st Century church did it. Acts is filled with case studies, one of which you and I will study together today. In this case study, I will share six essentials for proclaiming the gospel by plagiarizing another mans sermon, Paul’s sermon that is.

1) Stand in the midst the lost (Acts 17:22a)

Our text begins with “Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus,” literally it means “high place” and it rests above the city of Athens on top of Mars Mill. It was sort of a temple to the human brain, a forum for philosophical talks. Why would Paul stand in the middle of a crowd of philosophical eggheads? To understand Paul’s present situation you need to go back in Acts and hear the undergirding motivation for his trip to Athens (cf. 9:15; 16:10; 17:16ff). What you discover is that Paul has a deep rooted, God-given burden for people to hear the truth about Jesus. His burden for the lost leads him to stand in the midst of the lost.

You might ask, why doesn’t my heart beat for the lost, like Paul? Why do I struggle so much just to love my neighbor? Remember, a burden for the lost is birthed and nourished by the Spirit of God setting your heart blaze for the lost.

Charles Spurgeon said,

“The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest, too. But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy, too. I hope you will get into such a state that you will dream about your child or your hearer perishing for lack of Christ, and start up at once and begin to cry, ‘God, give me converts or I die.’ Then you will have converts.”1

Undoubtedly, you have a burning passion for the gospel, however, one must never assume that just because one serves God as a career that you are actually living out the gospel or proclaiming it often and well. When was the last time you stood in the midst of the lost and spoke about Jesus? Does your heart ache for the lost? Will you die if God doesn’t give you converts? Stand among the lost.

2) Know the people to whom you are speaking (17:22b-23a)

Paul was in Athens, the seat of the worlds intelligentsia. It was home to philosophical legends like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno who have influenced human thought ever since. In Paul’s day, Athens was a city in philosophical flux, particularly between two parties of thought: the Epicureans (pleasure seeker) and Stoics (long-sufferer). Both quests for truth were polar opposite, and therefore, truth was thought of as unknowable, yet the people continued to spend their days talking about the newest philosophical fads at Areopagus (v.21). Athens was Starbucks on Steroids!

Paul knew the people to whom he is speaking because as he toured Athens he took good notes. He walked in the shadow of the Acropolis. He saw temples filled with a smorgasbord of gods. Upon invitation by the local philosophers, he said with kindness and clarity, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship…”

Are you a learner of people around you? What do you observe about their beliefs and culture that are different or even similar to yours? How would you describe their God? In their words and deeds, how do you see their beliefs lived out each week? How are they struggling? What questions are they asking? What do you observe?

Now you will never know another culture completely like you know your own, however if you walk around, sit with people, and ask questions you will learn a lot. Yesterday, I sat with a father who lost his 4-year old son through an unexpected accident. The boy who was sleeping on a mat when in the night a car backed over the boy crushing him to death. I regarded many men come to my neighbors mat, greet him politely, and then each guest proceed to repeat short prayers. I heard these prayers at least a dozen times within the 10-minutes that I sat with him. I was broken for him and the others who were praying. I perceived they are very religious.

3) Seize interest in the gospel by using common ground (17:23b)

Interestingly, Paul doesn’t rest with just learning about people and culture, he turns his observations into a provocative statement. Can you imagine ears perking up? Especially, as he says, “I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you…” Paul seizes their interest by using the one thing he has in common with the Athenians. What is their common ground? Worship. Paul sees at the heart of Athens is a quest to understand life, a desire to find meaning and significance, and a hunger to worship, even if they did not know exactly what it was they were worshiping. Isn’t that the quest of all men? People want to know what matters most. People want to worship something or someone bigger than them. Worship is at the heart of the matter.

Albert Einstein echoes this in his 1932 credo,

“The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious. It is the underlying principle of religion as well as of all serious endeavour in art and science. He who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious. To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all there is.”2

A.W. Tozer clarifies Einstein’s words by saying,

“Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring and awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause (the ultimate truth), but which we call Our Father Who Is in Heaven.”

Paul uses worship as a springboard to say, “This unknown God that you worship. Yeah, I know Him. And you can know Him too. This God you say you cannot know, in Him, I live, I move, I have my entire being.” It’s an audacious statement Paul makes and in a sense he says, “I know God, therefore, I know Ultimate Truth.” How is Paul so confident that God knowable? He met Him on the road to Damascus (cf. 9:5).

I find that the religious culture I live in can be accurately summed up by this phrase, “ignorantly worshipping an unknown God.” My heart is burdened when I see people praying to a God they do not believe is unknowable just to continue with religious traditions and expectations. My neighbor believes that if God wills he will go to paradise one day, but he will never really know the God that He is praying to, but I’m sure that he will always pray. A religious façade has become his god. The form of his worship becomes more important than the one he is worshiping.

Listen, if your faith is not rooted in Jesus Christ, you too are ignorantly worshiping an unknown God. If your daily life would go on as normal if God were no part of it, you are ignorantly worshiping an unknown God. When your devotion lies in the practices of your church or tradition rather than the person of Jesus Christ, you are ignorantly worshiping an unknown God. If your knowledge of how to worship exceeds your knowledge of who you are worshiping, you are ignorantly worshiping an unknown God. If the gospel ceased to be your sufficiency, dependency and satisfaction, you are ignorantly worshiping and unknown God.

4) Make sure your message is saturated in Scripture (17:24-29)

Have you noticed that Paul’s sermons are saturated with Scripture? What Paul understands it that the power in a message is always in the Spirit of God through the Scripture. Paul is not the authority, he has another authority. Scriptures are his authority. In short, Paul will use the Scripture to give the Athenians a crash course on God 101. And without a doubt, this is one on the most beautiful treatises on God in all of Scripture.

  • God is the omnipotent Creator (v.24a). Your world begins with God, not you.3
  • God is omnipresent (v.24b). You cannot limit or localize God. He doesn’t dwell in tiny hand-made shrines,4 He dwells in hearts.
  • God is completely self-sufficient (v.25). God doesn’t depend on us; we depend on God for everything.5 This is the most humbling verse in Scripture and a good verse to remember as you serve others.
  • God is sovereign sustainer and ruler (v.26). He is intimately involved within history and geography.6
  • God is a gracious pursuer (v.27; Romans 1:19-20). God has placed within each man a GPS (Godward Pursuit System), a homing beacon that is questing for the Most High.
  • God is a revealer (v.28a). God imprints Himself everywhere, even in secular poetry and art (creation and heart).
  • God is the life-giver (v.28b). God is the Father of all humanity.
  • God is eternally priceless (v.29; Romans 1:22-23). People make idols of God from precious things because they have a high view of God, but He is incomparable to any object or form.

Why does Paul give this treatise on God and His character? Remember, when Paul entered Athens, he was provoked within his spirit when he saw the city full of idols (v.16). He was deeply torn and his heart stirred because the God of Scripture is stirred by idolatry too. God is jealous and angered and does not share His glory with another. He is provoked to crush any substitute, “high place”, or Areopagus in this world and in your lives. God alone desires the high place because He is the Most High God. The Scripture says there is no adequate substitute for the living God.

5) Boldly proclaim the whole gospel: call for repentance (17:30-31a)

As Paul presents the living God to Athens, he doesn’t just say “Believe in Him.” Yes, belief in God is critically important, but it’s not the whole gospel. Many people believe in God, but it doesn’t change their life. That’s why Paul, like Jeremiah, walks into an idolatrous hot bed and proclaims, “Repent!” He says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed.”

Who is “the man God has appointed to judge the world”? Jesus. Jesus is the blazing center of Paul’s gospel. Jesus is what makes the gospel shine. Athens could no longer claim ignorance or hide from the light. They were now cognizant of Christ, the Judge, and they stood before Him guilty and condemned (just as are those to whom you share the gospel). Yet Paul gave them a life-changing proposition: humble yourselves before Jesus and repent. If not, now, when? When Jesus judges you on the fixed and final day? It is better to face Jesus today as Savior than tomorrow as Judge.

6) Proclaim the gospel expectantly, but leave the results to God (17:31b-34)

Notice the different responses to the gospel? (vs.32-34) Not everybody responds with immediate repentance. Some doubt (mock), some wait to hear more, and some believe. We find out that at least two women were changed by the gospel, including a member of the Areopagus council. Even if no one believed, the mission to Athens wasn’t a failure. God be praised!

God calls us to proclaim the gospel (v.31b); he doesn’t call us to convert people. God holds us responsible for faithfulness; not fruitfulness. He calls us to scatter seeds, water and till peoples souls; not harvest them. Paul was simply a vehicle—a voice box of the truth. It took the Holy Spirit to convince people of that truth, it is the Spirit that opens eyes to have faith in His Son, like Lydia (cf.16:14). Conversion is the work of God and God alone. We can expect results in good faith. So let’s do God’s work in God’s way with God’s power and leave the results to Him.

In high school, I worked at Schmidt Sporting Goods. It was a great high school job. I got sweet deals on new shoes, Packer gear, and I got to watch sports while working. It was also a great opportunity to mingle with many unbelievers. During the evening shift the customer flow would slow and I’d have time to talk to other employees. Sometimes I wondered if I would ever see a breakthrough. No one ever came to church with me. No one repented and turned to Jesus. However, 10-years later, long after our days working together, I got an email from a fellow employee. He shared a story from that summer. He jump out of a boat into a murky lake. Unknowingly the water was shallow and he snapped his neck. As he lay in the hospital paralyzed he recalled our conversations at work, he also had another close friend who was shared the gospel with him regularly. He gave his life Christ that summer. The seed I planted, another watered and tilled, but God opened his eyes and produced a harvest.

You might not see the results of the gospel in your lifetime. Keep sharing. Continue praying. Never give up.