Chapter Six — Seeking the Lost
ne day when we were living in Pennsylvania, our dog ran away from home. I loved my dog, so I didn't just sit at home and whistle. I set out on foot, and then in the car, to search for my lost dog. I had to go around the out skirts of the Ligonier Valley Study Center, situated in the mountains in a rather remote area. It's not like the suburbs where you look out your window and see into the window of your next-door neighbor. Many homes were situated
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on ten-, fifty-, or even hundred-acre lots. The houses were widely separated from each other; we didn't know everyone who lived up and down the street.
In that area, there were two types of people. One type was those who were very rich, who used the area as a summer resort. Another type was people who were des perately poor: the "Appalachian mountain people." They lived virtually side by side with the extravagantly wealthy. As I was looking for my dog, I began to go down roads and driveways that I'd never traveled before. The one impression that I carry with me from that experience was coming out the end of my driveway, turning right onto the street, and going less than a quarter of a mile before turning down a driveway that I had passed probably a thousand times.
I had no idea what was at the end of that driveway, but I couldn't believe what was there. It was as if I had stepped into a different century or another world—a world of abject poverty. I saw people living without food, without adequate shelter, and without sufficient clothing; they were obviously unemployed and barely eking out an existence. I had no idea those people even lived there, and yet, their residence was less than two thousand feet from my house.
Seeking the Lost
I'd been there eight or nine years without realizing that they lived right across the street from me.
It's easy for us to shield ourselves—not consciously, not maliciously—but nevertheless, to pass on the other side in order to remain unaware of the pain and the spiritual hopelessness that is around us. That was not the way of Jesus. He looked for the pain. He searched for lost people. That was the first step in redeeming them.
Jesus gained a reputation for associating with those who were considered outcasts. Pariahs, undesirables, the unlovely of the Jewish culture—all these gathered around Jesus. This disturbed the Pharisees and scribes, the digni taries and clergy of the day. They had adopted a tradition that taught salvation by segregation: keep yourself away from anyone who is involved in sin; that is how you can secure your own redemption. It was part of their work ing philosophy to isolate themselves from those who were sinners. Jesus came and defied that tradition by openly associating with the pariahs of the culture.
It was on one of these occasions that the Pharisees began to grumble and complain about Jesus' companions. In response, Jesus tells a series of parables, the first of which reads as follows:
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What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:4–7)
This parable is called "the parable of the lost sheep." There are those today who don't believe that anyone is lost; they reject the whole concept of being lost. There are those who are universalists, who believe everyone goes to heaven automatically; justification is not by faith or works, but simply by death—because no one is truly lost. Then there are those who say that, given enough time, lost people will eventually find their way back. We just need to leave them alone.
However, if no one is lost, or if they will find their way back on their own, then the mission of Christ was a waste
Seeking the Lost of time; the atonement of Christ was not needed. This casts a shadow upon the whole mission of Jesus Himself.
Jesus defined His mission by saying, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). He didn't simply say that He came to save the lost, but that He came to seek and to save them. That is, before the lost can be redeemed, they must first be found.
It is finding the lost that necessitates the endeavor of missions. It's easy for us to deceive ourselves into thinking that no one is lost, and one way of doing that is to distance ourselves from the search—that is, to make sure that we keep ourselves uninformed about the needs of the lost, to insulate ourselves from knowing what is really going on in the world. For instance, we don't go out of our way to understand and learn about all of the people who are starving in this world. When we are confronted with it, our consciences are pricked and we are moved to action. But we don't go out of our way to find misery; we think there's enough misery in our own lives, without looking for more.
When I was a child, it was still normal for the doctor to make house calls, where he would actually come to your house. Every day, he would drive through the community
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and visit children, the elderly, or whoever was sick. Today, if you're sick, the doctor is not going to come to you; you have go to the doctor. Unfortunately, many churches oper ate the same way; they hang out a shingle and invite people to come to them.
But Jesus didn't have a building; He didn't wait behind closed doors for people to come and see Him. His was a ministry of "walking around." He went out to where the people were. That's what missions is all about. The ministry of Christ was a ministry of searching for pain and for those who are lost.
The second parable that Jesus tells the Pharisees reads as follows:
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost." Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (vv. 8–10)
Seeking the Lost
Maybe this is the only time the woman has ever swept the house. She's lost something, and she will turn over everything to find a tenth of her fortune. She lost one coin, and she didn't just miss it and say, "That's all right; I have nine coins left." She moved heaven and earth to find that coin.
Did you ever lose something valuable that was impor tant to you? If so, then you know that inner panic you feel as you try to find it. I remember when I was living in the home of a friend who was back in the Netherlands finishing his doctoral dissertation. Before he left for the Netherlands, he gave me a key to his safe deposit box. He said, "If I ever have an emergency, I will contact you. I have funds set aside in this safe deposit box. If something comes up, all you have to do is take that key to the bank, get out the box, and wire me the money."
Several months passed, and I got an urgent message say ing that he needed money desperately. I went right into my desk where I knew I had put the key, opened up the drawer in the center section, looked down—and the key was gone. I had no idea where it was. I searched the house frantically. I couldn't find it. I went to the bank and explained the
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situation. They said, "We're sorry. Without that key, we are not allowed to let you in here to open that box."
I explained the situation to my students in my class. I had my whole class come to my house, and we went over that house with a fine-toothed comb. We lifted up the rugs. We went through the winter clothes. We took out the drawers. We ruffled the curtains. We systematically went through every square inch of that house.
Eventually, after much searching, I found that key. When I found it, I went nuts. I was leaping for joy, jump ing up and down—and I thought, here I am rejoicing over finding a key. I rejoiced also when I found my lost dog. What does heaven do when a lost person is found? There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents that over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
I get excited when I find my lost dog. I get excited when I find a key that is lost. I get excited when I find some money that is lost. Heaven has a feast when a lost person is found. We will look for keys. We will look for coins. We will look for sheep. Why won't we look for people?
If you've ever been lost in the woods, you know what a terrible feeling it is. It's easy to make one turn, then another; then, suddenly, the landmarks all look the same
Seeking the Lost and you become disoriented. You can start moving farther away from the point of recognition, getting deeper into the woods without knowing it. The realization that you are lost can be terrifying. But even more terrifying, there are those who are lost who don't even know it.
One of my favorite illustrations of this idea comes from Alice in Wonderland. Alice is walking along and doesn't know where she's going. She comes to a fork in the road and doesn't know which way to go. She's paralyzed with indecision, and sitting up in the tree is the Cheshire Cat, grinning from ear to ear. Alice finds a bit of encouragement by the presence of the Cheshire Cat, and she asks him, "Which way should I go?"
The cat says, "Well, it depends. Where are you heading?" Alice says, "I don't know." The cat says, "Then it doesn't matter which way you go." Many people today are like that. They have no idea where they are and no clue where they're going. Their whole lives consist of wandering about aimlessly, without purpose, design, meaning, or significance. It's one thing to be lost; it's another to be lost and not know it. When a person is in that state, it is inevitable that they will experience a crisis and real ize they have no idea where they are or how they got there.
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God puts a priority on seeking people like that. After the lost coin and the lost sheep, Jesus turns His attention to people. The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32) is a familiar story, and it's important to keep the focus where it belongs: not on the lost son, but on the father and his great joy at the repentance and return of the son. When the father sees his son far off, he races down the road and embraces him, kills the fatted calf, gives the signet ring to him, and clothes him with a cloak of honor. As he says to the older brother, "It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found" (v. 32).
This parable tells us what God is like. He runs after the lost, and He rejoices when one person is redeemed.
That is the mission of the church, and each of us has a responsibility to make sure that the lost are sought and found. We're not dealing with coins or sheep, and we're not dealing with dogs or keys. We are dealing with people whom Christ loves. He said so Himself.
About the Author
Dr. R.C. Sproul was founder of Ligonier Ministries, founding pastor of Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Fla., first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. His radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio sta tions around the world and can also be heard online. He was author of more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and Everyone's a Theologian. He was recognized throughout the world for his articulate defense of the inerrancy of Scripture and the need for God's people to stand with conviction upon His Word.
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