During his earthly ministry Jesus was driven by an almost fanatical commitment to reach those who were lost. He pursued those who were broken, reached out to those who were hurting and transformed those who were willing. Instead of hanging out at the temple with the other rabbis Jesus hung out in the streets with tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. According to Jesus' own words his driving cause was to "seek and save what was lost" Luke 19:10.
|
|
Not only did he spend his three and a half years of earthly ministry on a gritty search and rescue mission for lost souls, he also invited twelve young disciples to join him in his holy quest. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he called them to finish what he had started by taking the good news of the gospel to the ends of the earth. The disciples died trying to complete the mission that Jesus had left for them.
The same fanatical focus that drove Jesus, his disciples and the early church should drive our ministry efforts as well. But, more often than not, youth leaders are not engaging their young followers with THE Cause that drove Jesus. Many youth leaders have been distracted from the original call of Christ to reach the lost by making disciples who make disciples. As a result youth ministry in the typical church is failing to gain ground on the kingdom of darkness and is succumbing to a model that is, at best, ineffective.
To regain our kingdom edge and ministry effectiveness we need to, in the words of my friend Derwin Gray, "marinate" on Luke 19:10 for a bit, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
This short verse tells us in graphic terms who Jesus truly was and why he really came. In this verse Jesus calls himself "the Son of Man." That may sound harmless enough but it was inflammatory at the least and considered to be blasphemous by most people who were listening to them that day. Because that term "Son of Man" refers back to Daniel 7:9-14. Check out the words of the prophet concerning the true identity of the Son of Man,
Leave a comment