Read Luke 15:1-32

The Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son

These three parables are quite familiar and their basic intent readily discernible. What stands out for me is the very clear emphasis on seeking those who are in one way or another lost to the love and will of God and who thusly flounder along life's journey.

Will Willimon, United Methodist Bishop of the North Alabama Conference and no firebrand fundamentalist by any means, recently said The test of a church is how many people are there that are lost and being found. Now while I chafe at the way many Christian groups speak of "the lost" (those who don't embrace a particular theology or see Jesus the way they see Jesus or understand God's will the way they understand God's will, etc.), we Methodist Christians must not fall prey to a kind of elitism which ignores that our society is replete with persons who've lost their way in life and with whom God is ever eager to connect.

Every church, including ours, should ask itself certain questions:

Are we eager to reach outside our cultural and religious comfort zone and connect
with those for whom spiritual commitment is clearly not a priority?

Are we prayerfully discerning ways to be more attentive to reaching those
presently unreached for the Christian faith?

Are we in our individual lives tuned into those whom we know or meet who seem
to be seeking some connection to God and who are waiting for
someone to be their spiritual friend and guide?

Is Evangelism more than a ministry program by which we
cultivate new members and grow the organization?

As I'm writing this piece, I'm finding God placing these questions upon my heart and hopefully upon yours. I welcome hearing back from you over the coming days as to how we can and should answer these questions in faithfulness to Jesus' call.