Someone has rightly said, “There only two kinds of people in churches: those who talk about the lost and those who talk to the lost”. In John 4 an uncommon man stopped at a well for a conversation with a common and less than respectable woman. As the rest of the busy world went about its business, Jesus spoke truth to this woman. When she attempted to change the subject, He spoke more relevant truth to her. The woman left the conversation forever changed and with an eternal relationship with this man. Christ talked to the lost. Christians ought to talk to the lost. Talking about the behavior of the lost is of no help in our mission, which is to introduce them to Christ. Their behavior is not the issue. Their spiritual deadness is the issue.
According to the Los Angeles Times a parking control officer issued a parking ticket at 9:46 a.m.
on September 11, 1992 to the driver of a Cadillac illegally parked on Piru Street. Paramedics determined that the man behind the wheel had died from a gunshot to the head the night before. This event graphically illustrates a significant problem with many Christians. We want to give “parking tickets” to “dead people”. I try to keep a check on myself in this area but I must confess that I too am sometimes guilty of this. The Bible is clear about the fact that anyone who does not have a saving relationship with Christ is spiritually dead. We are foolish indeed to critique the behavior of dead people. Instead, we ought to be introducing them to the One who said,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NASU)
Furthermore, we ought to remember that each and every one of us was once in the very same condition. This memory ought to cause us to make sure that we are in the group that talks to lost people about the gospel and not in the group that talks about lost people. Ephesians 2:1-7 should be in our thoughts at all times,
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according
Furthermore, we ought to remember that each and every one of us was once in the very same condition. This memory ought to cause us to make sure that we are in the group that talks to lost people about the gospel and not in the group that talks about lost people. Ephesians 2:1-7 should be in our thoughts at all times, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (NASU) Here God tells us twice that we were spiritually dead. He reminds us of our awful behavior. He reminds us that it is only by His grace that we are no longer in that condition. May God forgive us for our attitude toward the lost and the resulting failure to give glory to Him by sharing His goodness with them. The dead man needs life not behavior modification.
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