JOHN ROBINSON came to church this morning. This is the first time I've seen John in about seven years. Of course I was glad to see him because we had been good friends. Without my knowing it, John had stopped coming. I hadn't even noticed that he wasn't there, so what surprised me was that after all this time he should bother to come back at all. Whatever made him quit coming? I don't know. It looks like no one tried to find out either. This puts John in a class with a lot of others who were once members of our congregation but who have gone from us. When I saw John I thought of them, people who at one time or another had been interested in the work of the church and the people there. They're gone. Gone somewhere. I don't know where they are and I'm sorry about it because I don't believe that is the way things should be. I think I should be more interested in them than to lose track of them that way.
   Of course I can't keep track of everyone, but I wonder what can be done about the people who are lost to God because no one keeps track of them.
   Everyone seems to be too busy. What started out to be everyone's business has become no one's. Certainly we care about them, but we just don't care quite enough to lay down what we are doing and pay attention  to them when they need help. Something happens, a misunderstanding or something, and they're gone. There was no one to whom they could take their problems and discouragements and heavy heartedness.
   So they are gone!
  We didn't think of the time and prayer and effort that someone had made to get them here in the first place, to expose them to the gospel message, to lead them into a decision for Christ and church membership. When we now and again heard the reasons for not coming anymore we thought they were silly to be upset about a little thing like that and told them they should "grow up." Why not? They were foolish, weren't they?  But couldn't we at least have put up with their foolishness long enough to try and help them understand? Well - we were taken up with a lot of other things and when we finally looked up from what had us, they were gone. Just gone! Not there anymore. Oh, well! Sure we are sorry about it. But what can we do? We can't live another person' life can we? We have OUR troubles too.
   Let's face it. We were too busy to love one another, and anyway they weren't very lovable were they? God loved them though, didn't He? Do you suppose that He had chosen us to be His instrument through which to love them? Maybe they did something wrong. They looked back and fell flat on their faces. Its pretty hard to put up with that sort of thing. Perhaps John missed choir practice. You can't have a choir without people who come to practice. He didn't sing too well, anyway. He didn't tell us that he had problems at home, did he? How were we to know that?Maybe the pastor gave him a short answer. Huh! That's no way for a pastor to talk. Who was to know that the preacher had one or two problems of his own? Did anyone bother to find out? So we lose people. Well maybe we will be able to get some more so that we can lose them too. But that isn't the way it should  be."  (COPIED)