Our Job: Recovering Lost Sheep
March 15, 2011
Dear Friends,
In our mission to get as many people into the Kingdom of God, we must also retrieve those that are lost. The Scriptures give us specific instructions about who to go after and how to do it. Luke 15 gives us a good framework for understanding what we are expected to do.
In the first parable in Luke 15, we have a lost sheep. These people are who have wandered off while not under the watchful eye of the shepherds. It might have been a long, slow process of gradual disinterest or getting pulled away by things of the world. Once the sheep is noted as missing, the effort to recover this wayward disciple is very purposeful. The Scripture says the believers “go after that which is lost, until he find it.” This should be descriptive of our effort for those who are confused, mislead or ignorant; especially by our elders. Probably the defining characteristic of an ecclesial elder is that they are actively and consistently engaged with the sheep. They know what is going on and who is in danger. Proverbs 27:23 describes this quality thusly. Note the emphasis on the care the shepherd will give to the flock.
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds.(NIV)
Ezekiel describes those shepherds who don’t engage in this recovery process.
There was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock. (Ezek. 34:8)
In contrast, God says of Himself “Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.” (Ezek. 34:11)
We must choose our elders wisely for this reason. The disconnected Bible scholar, the harried businessman and the disengaged orator might all be valuable assets in the ecclesial family, but they should not be assigned the task of watching the sheep.
The second parable in Luke 15 is the parable of the lost coin. Notice that the coin is lost in the house. The women, symbolic of the ecclesia, is diligently moving to “sweep the house, and seek diligently” for the lost coin. The lost coin is those of our number who are lost but still in our midst. We have all seen this. The disciple is just going through the motions. They attend meeting, but are only there in body rather than in spirit. They are disconnected from the body. They are the proverbial Sunday Christians. In these instances, we must find out who these people are and restore them to good spiritual health. We are in error in our own discipleship if we think just because someone is there on Sunday that all is right with the world. Again, the elders bear the brunt of the responsibility, but we should all do what we can to reconnect with these lost brethren and make sure their needs are attended to.
Finally, the last parable in Luke 15 is the parable of the prodigal son. This is the case when we do not pursue the lost sheep. The Scripture says “the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” Notice in the parable that no one in this man’s family went after him. The father is God and He doesn’t go after him either. I believe these are the same group that is described in 1 Corinthians 5 whom we are to hand over to Satan. Their defining trait is that they have left deliberately having chosen sin over God. The path to recovery for this class is to let the world dish out to them all that it has to offer. Once the world has shown these deliberately wayward brethren just how cold and hard that it is, the ecclesia is to be waiting to welcome the humbled and repentant brother back with open arms.
This approach sounds cold and uncaring, but the intent is to save them for the Kingdom and is therefore love in its most pure form. Paul says of this method of recovery “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Cor. 5:5) There are those who ignore this Divine process and pretend like no sin ever occurred. They think their actions are loving, but they are only encouraging a person to continue to pursue a life that will lead to eternal death. Every time we shield a person from the consequences of deliberate sin, we are hampering their recovery to the Kingdom of God. This is not to say we are cruel or heap upon them further burdens, but when the world does so, we do not shield them from the consequences. When they are humbled and wish to return home, we run to them with open arms as the father did in the parable, but this action is predicated on a change of both heart and behavior on the part of the deliberately wayward individual. “By their fruits shall ye know them.” (Matt. 7:20)
Have a great week,
Comments»
Hi Kyle,
I am not sure I get the difference between the lost sheep in the first parable and the lost sheep in the “prodigal son” parable. Are you blaming the shepherds in the first one for the condition of the sheep? I know just a little about sheep since I have taught the class at GLCBS for a few years. Sheep will follow another sheep without knowing where they are going – sometimes to their death. Are you saying that the difference between the sheep and the son is the outright willfulness of the son (giving him of course the ability to choose where he wants to go)? Peter states in his first letter in chapter 2 verse 25 “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of souls” referring to Jesus. I completely agree with you that if a “sheep” should return to the fold, we are there to greet them with open arms and “Bleat” with joy. I feel strongly that we cannot make someone do what they don’t want to do, so “recovery” is up to Jesus. Yes, we must do all we can but also must not step in the way of Jesus’ rescue of His sheep. Brother Shawn Moynihan spoke these words at Williamsburg in 1996 and I have written them in my bible “As sheep, we are better off having the affection of the Shepherd, rather than the admiration of the other sheep”. I am uplifted each week by your thoughts, so I am not criticizing, just adding my thoughts. Thanks for all you do, Kyle. Love to you and your “girls”
Sherry,
Thanks for the comments.
I think the difference in the lost sheep and the prodigal son is the intent. The prodigal son does what they do “eyes wide open.” In other words, they make a very deliberate decision to leave to pursue sin. The lost sheep does so as almost a byproduct of their apathetic discipleship. Like the example you cited, they go along with others without full realization of where they are going. They are looking for greener pastures so to speak. Perhaps a so-so ecclesial environment is also a contribution to the lost sheep’s willingness to get lost.
Concerning the shepherds, I am not blaming them for anyone’s behavior other than their own. They should know the status of their sheep and work to provide an environment where the sheep can thrive. If they cannot or are unwilling to do these things, they can be good members of the ecclesia, but they shouldn’t be shepherds. However, every disciple is ultimately responsible for their own behavior and attitude so a less than ideal ecclesia is no excuse for waywardness.
Hope that clarifies!
How far away does a sheep need to wander before it is deemed lost? Perhaps in an area of good pastures and plentiful water, a sheep will stay closer to the flock. But where sustenance is sparse, a wider grazing range may be necessary for survival.
Paddy, I am guessing you weren’t really searching for an answer to you question but were simply making a point that the definition of lost can be murky at best. I prefer not to focus so much on the delineation of lost versus not lost, but on helping people who are obviously struggling. I think the idea is that if our mission is to get as many people into the Kingdom of God as possible then we are helping everyone out of love to move closer to God. As a practical matter then, I am not sure it really makes a difference if they are “lost” or not except perhaps in our exertion of energy in helping them (unless they have willfully and unrepentently left and then we let the world lead them back through trials as in the case of the prodigal son. Kyle
Well…, I was, really. You did mention that one may be deceived as to the state of lostness of another is he attends meeting regularly. “They attend meeting, but are only there in body rather than in spirit.” That would seem to imply that not attending meeting regularly is synonymous with being lost. I’m not trying to split hairs here, honestly; I am only trying to come to an understanding of your meaning.
Paddy,
I would think as a rule of thumb that someone not attending meeting is a good indicator of being lost. With that rule of thumb being stated, however, I don’ t think it is an absolute and can think of a lot of valid reasons for non-attendance. Sadly, there are some cities with limited ecclesial options that, if I had to live there, I would not attend the meeting but would instead focus my efforts on preaching such as to build an alternative ecclesia. Again, our premise is that our job is to get as many people into the Kingdom of God as possible. Most of the time I think that means attending meeting, but it seems to me there are some circumstances when one might attain better results by not attending.