Wouldn’t You?

I’m concerned about a lot of things lately. I’m concerned about the price of gas. I’m concerned about the debt issues for my children in post-secondary and career launching. I’m concerned about having better health and a long life. I’m concerned about making a difference and what people will remember me for. I’m concerned about rhetoric, in this case empty talk.

In our Bible study group last week we talked about Jesus’ question to the people. "Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?" He was of course using the work of a shepherd tending sheep, to illustrate how critical one sheep is to the whole flock. Then it became the anology for going after people who don’t know Jesus the Messiah of God, the Saviour of the world. You see, Jesus was hanging out with some people who had doubtful reputations. They never had a glowing image around the community if you know what I mean. As usual, the religious community had problems with this charismatic, apparently sacrilegious Nazarene. He argued with them and said, "If you had a hundred sheep and lost one wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?"

Author Lesslie Newbigin wrote in "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society", something that makes us rethink our salvation box.  "There can be no private salvation, no salvation which does not involves us with one another."

Or how about the story of St. Patrick? George Hunter in "The Celtic Way of Evangelism" reminds us that "the British leaders were offended and angered that Patrick was spending priority time with ‘pagans,’ ’sinners,’ and ‘barbarians,’" speaking of his work to the people of Ireland. What really troubles me is Hunter’s summary of it all. "This perspective had surfaced four centuries earlier. Jesus had been savagely criticized by the Pharisees for practicing the same kind of fraternizing priorities that Patrick now practiced. Futhermore this perspective is widespread today. Pastors and churches, today, who regard outreach to lost people as the church’s main business, and especially those who are perceived to prefer the company of lost people to the company of church people, are suspect, mariginalized, and "shot at" by establishment Christians and church leaders."

Yeah, I’m concerned about a lot of things. I concerned that Hunter is hitting the nail on the head. I’m concerned that we might be prepared to welcome people as long as they don’t mess around with the way things are. They’re welcome but stay in the back.

"Would you?…"

Do we? The answer to whether or not we do answers the question of whether or not we would.