Left Behind

(1)O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  (2)Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.  (3)When I look at your heavens, the work of your gingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; (4)what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?  (5)Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.  (6)You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, (7)all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, (8)the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.  (9)O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8)

(16)Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  (17)When they say him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.  (18)And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19)Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, (20)and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

God has blessed us with many things.  The blue skies, the fields, oceans, mountains, animals, etc.  As the Psalmist says, “how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  So why do we take all these things and more for granted?  Do we think they’ll be here forever if we don’t care for them?  It is our duty to care for them you know.

And we have been given the charge to Go and to Do.  To go out into the world, to do, to share the gospel of Jesus with those who have been left behind.  Those who others see as the marginal, the worthless, the dirty.  We are a judgmental lot.  We don’t see the importance in seeking the left behind.  We are more concerned with us, our lives, our things, our worries.  We don’t have time for someone else or their problems.  Some may feel that if the left behind don’t know Jesus then it’s their own fault.  No it’s not!  Jesus told us to go out and find them, to share our experience with them, to let them know that God loves them too. 

 But there is hope.  Because there are many of us who do heed words.  We go and we do because ‘Jesus said so.’  Because we value the experience that that God has shared with us.  We value the His direction.  What we have to make sure of is when puts those encounters into our hands that we don’t miss the opportunity.  Just because someone has piercings, or tattoos, or brightly colored hair, or ‘different’ clothing we can’t just keep moving on.  Our ‘job’ is to stay, engage in conversation, share, and most importantly listen. 

The left behind are just like in us in so many ways.  They are missing something in their lives.  They are searching.  Whether they know it or not.  That’s why God handed them to us on a silver platter.  To walk away without giving them a chance is like walking away from Jesus. 

Where is the best ministry done?  In the streets, in the bars, in restaurants, in store fronts.  It’s not in church with the already churched.  The churched know about Jesus and the gifts he’s given us.  For them, the goal is to get them to believe that they are called by Jesus to go and to do.  To help them to understand that fear they envision of going and doing is just Satan trying to dissuade them.  But Jesus is stronger.  Jesus is almighty.  And Jesus is always with them as well as the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We are never alone when doing the Lord’s work or any other time.  It’s not as scary out there as people would imagine.  When you have Jesus leading you, you count Him to have your back. 

The next time someone gives you an opening, don’t miss the chance.  Jump on that opportunity.  Evangelism doesn’t always start with Jesus, but it certainly ends with Jesus.