I believe it's easy for Christians to forget what it was like to be lost. We can become so used to our "church culture" that THE CROSS is LOST in our memory.
Jesus came to reach people who were OUT OF RELATIONSHIP with God. If we're not INTENTIONAL about sharing the CROSS we can easily slip into a ROUTINE of keeping ourselves happy by creating SAFE and COMFORTABLE environments where we never really have to make any bold moves or take any radical steps of FAITH to reach other people for Christ.
When we forget what it was like to be lost...we tend to speak "Christianise." Christianise is the jargon Christians use within the church. Basically, the use of religious terminology that is characterized by certain words, terms and catchphrases that can only be understood by those within the confines of the church.
If we forget what it was like to be LOST then we will begin to answer questions that the world really isn't asking. We begin to obsess over things that the world is not obsessed over. To be honest, lost people aren't really concerned about the doctrine of election, pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib.
If we forget what it was like to be LOST we can easily bog the church down with programs that CATER to the personal preferences of those INSIDE the church and completely neglects those OUTSIDE the church.
If we forget what it was like to be LOST we can find it easy to look DOWN on people who are far from God.
Do you remember when you were lost? Paul spoke about it in Ephesians..."YOU WERE DEAD..."
Who was dead? The people INSIDE the church in Ephesus...people who were now involved in Bible studies, people who served as elders, deacons, musicians, teachers, etc. Paul reminds them that they WERE all dead!
If you ARE a born again believer then you were ONCE DEAD! Don't forget where you came from! Remind yourself today of those BAD HABITS, DESTRUCTIVE PATTERNS, MISTAKES and ADDICTIONS!
But...NOW YOU ARE ALIVE! (Ephesians 2:4-5) God made you ALIVE in CHRIST!
Jesus made you alive...NOT your good works.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your bible knowledge.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your church history.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your talent.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your education.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your money.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your facebook status.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your charisma.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your physique.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your intellect.
Jesus made you alive...NOT your positive outlook.
God made me ALIVE because of HIS effort not mine! Besides, dead people can't decide to be better people....THEY'RE DEAD!
Do you remember what it was like to be lost? We sometimes forget that SALVATION is a GIFT. It's so easy to slip into a system of legalism that allows us to be defined by WHAT WE DO and DO NOT DO rather than the finished work that Christ has done for us.
Before we LOOK DOWN on people we need to remember WE WERE those people! Keeping that in mind will put us in "CHECK" the next we want to protest, picket and even damn people to hell! Friend...if it had not been for the AMAZING GRACE of God we would be the very people that we try to isolate ourselves from!
FOUND PEOPLE FIND PEOPLE! If you've been found then it's your responsibility to find someone who isn't! We are not called to CONDEMN the world (John 3:17) but to REACH and IMPACT the world! However, that will never be accomplished until those IN the church realize the reality of the GOSPEL...and instead of using the cross to BEAT people with we simply kneel at the foot of it and begin to declare that there is still room for those who are far from God!
We cannot forget what it was like to be lost!