Lost

I took this from another blog, tell me what you think??

The other day, I posted something on Twitter and Facebook that got over 90 comments (maybe more by the time this is read), and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I didn’t really see it as controversial. I have been known to post some pretty bizarre things, and this wasn’t one of them. I just had a thought about the way people that wouldn’t consider themselves Christians might feel when we refer to them as “Lost”. So I posted this:

“Thought for Christians: if we knew anything about the “lost”…Surely we would know enough not to call them “lost”…. Would you like it?”
That’s it. I thought it would get 3 or 4 comments. I really didn’t even think that much of it. When I wrote this, the context of my thinking was pretty much this — If my life mission was to help obese people no longer be obese, then I probably wouldn’t approach them like this:

“Hey Fatso, time to lose the lard!”

It is not that they don’t have a problem with their weight. It is not that I would be selling out and giving them sugar just because they can’t handle the truth. It is not that I don’t believe in nutrition and do everything that I can to re-train them to believe in it as well. It’s just simply the fact that there are better and more efficient ways to communicate to people to get the desired results of weight loss and still allow them to keep their dignity, and in the meantime, I get to be a good guy and not be a jerk.

I was shocked at how many people commented on my post about this subject of “the Lost.” I was depressed for a couple of days. It seemed to me that people were fighting for their right to continue to call these people “lost”.

One of the people that commented on my facebook page is a friend of mine named Rusty. I knew Rusty from a little town in Texas that I lived in for 1 year while I was in the 9th grade. I got reunited with Rusty through facebook, so it has been a long time since we talked. On the comment page, amongst these 90 something comments, I asked Rusty a question for everyone to see.

Rusty, we went to 9th grade together. I was not a Christian then. Did you go to church then? Has the church, with it’s you are lost, attitude ever been attractive to you?
His response:

Back in 9th grade I had already been on 2 missionary trips to villages deep into Mexico. I was a member of a non-denominational church where it was encouraged to speak in tongues and such. But still with their new-life attitude, I still felt the church to be way behind, in the dark-ages. And, most churches I’ve been to since, as well. I cannot … Read More accept most of the church doctrines around here, as their little sets of rules are not only outdated, but until you’ve accepted them, you are considered ‘lost’. I know my Bible front to back, but am still considered lost by a host of local church families, and yes it kind of rubs me the wrong way. Hope this answers your question. Have a great day brother.

I don’t know? Maybe I am missing something? But when you get comments like this:
so what do we call them….”intellects on the fast track to hell”? Satans frequent flyers….Flame throwers……Honestly what should we call them?

Or this:

Well, that is what Jesus called them!
It is no wonder that the family I grew up in didn’t dare go near the front door of a church building unless there was a funeral or a wedding.

Now to be fair, I got some great comments as well. Also, to be fair, when you have conversation on something like a facebook page — there is a lot lost in translation (body language, attitude, humor, etc.). I still think the lesson to learn here, at least for me, is that there needs to be more humility when trying to reach people that are far from God. There also needs to be less paranoia. Less fear that if we change our language and methods, that does not necessarily mean that we are changing the message —- Just because I don’t seize the opportunity to scream “LOST” at someone, doesn’t mean that I am not devoting my entire life to reaching them.

my thoughts on the subject:
Why do we feel the need to insult the very people we are trying to connect with.