Lost People Matter to God. What are you going to do with that? You could do nothing. You could twist it to justify actions. You could prioritize time to connect with your neighbors... lnteresting post from Ben Arment last week:
The Most Dangerous Phrase in the Church
I don't know who came up with it. I think it was Bill Hybels. And it's an absolutely correct statement. He was trying to move Christians out of the inwardly focused communes we called churches and into the world. It ushered-in a more compassionate and contextualized approach to the Gospel. But it has the potential to be the most dangerous phrase in the church."Lost people matter to God."Here's why.We can use it to justify every - and I mean every - decision in ministry. They might not be bad, but it's impossible to argue back when you sling out the "lost people matter" phrase. Install a $1 million LED wall?... Lost people matter to God. Tolerate a mistake in the service? No way... lost people matter...It's not the phrase that's dangerous. It's what we do with it.
See here is the deal. I feel the weight of the above thoughts along with other leaders at The Journey - how can we best use our time and resources for our church to make an impact? Not always easy. The heart of the post is making wise decisions to move towards a more compassion way to share the message of Jesus. I think we need to switch to a new approach and it really doesn't involve a program or system for the church. It's about relationships with an understanding of personal responsibility. As one of the leaders of The Journey, I am held responsible by God for what I do with The Journey as His church but also what I do with my individual life. When you stand before God, it won't be about what church programs you participated in but what did you do with your life? - you are personally responsible for reaching others. You are personally responsible for making your life count. You are personally responsible for your level of connection with Jesus. I will try to help you as a pastor of The Journey, but You are responsible to take action. Lost people matter to God. So what are you going to do with it?
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