Pharisees or Shepherd in Today’s Church?

Imagine yourself in some churches today on a Sunday morning. You come walking in with addicts, prostitutes, atheists, felons… Non-believers. What reaction would they get? Would it be inviting, or could it be like what Jesus experienced in Luke Chapter 15?

The Pharisees were angry and disgusted that Jesus would spend His time loving and spending His time with those they found as Unworthy. Why would you even want to be around “Those” people?

The Church is meant to be the People. The People that have been chosen by God to be Shepherd’s for the Kingdom. Yet so often we look around and those parts of the body that Jesus so desperately wanted to share hope and restoration with, are not welcomed. They are not a part of the “Mission”.

In Luke 15: 3-7, Jesus tells the Pharisees a story. A story where a Shepherd has a herd of sheep, say worth $50,000 ($5,000 per sheep). One of those sheep wander off. The shepherd has to decide, do I stay and protect the $45,000 investment, or do I sacrifice that for the 1, less valuable sheep.

And Jesus says, EVERY-TIME, He would choose to leave the 99, for the 1! To business people that would be Insane! That would be Reckless! But that’s our God’s love. He doesn’t want us to be so comfortable with the 99, that we will sacrifice the life of 1 who is just as valuable as the 99 together. Jesus said, “…there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

But do we follow Jesus’ lead when it comes to our daily ministry? Or is it more about how many people attend on Sunday morning?

All sheep have fallen. All of our sin fell on the shoulders of Christ when He died for us. So why is the sin of the one sheep too heavy for us not to find it worth fighting for?

Blind, Handicapped, Addicted, Disabled, Non-Believer…

I have seen so many people either leave the Church or be unable to attend Church because they either do not feel welcomed, or where they are is so condemned by the righteous that there is no place for them in the body of the Church. I have seen non-believers asked not to come back. I have seen loved ones be stripped of their ability to lead in ministry after committing their lives to divinity and the kingdom, only because their spouses decided they wanted to walk away. No fault of their own.

I have seen children that are handicapped, who have behavior issues, who are “Hard” to accommodate be excluded because it wasn’t a big enough need in the grand scheme of things.

Have we left the 99 for the 1? Or are we choosing to be “OK” with the 99 because we have served the majority?

We all fall short. Myself included. But when do we decide to love people the way Christ did and love them where they are. Show them that they are just as important, if not more, to the body of Christ? Why don’t we leave the church building in search of the sheep that so desperately need the Hope of our Lord and the Breaking of Chains that only Out God can do? When our God has so freely given us healing and victory, why not exclaim from the roof tops that God loved us EVEN WHEN we were yet still sinners. Stop being religious, and start being Christ’s shepherds.

Just like us, God has each one of his sheep’s’ paths ordered. He won’t leave them. But He is calling for us to be OK to leave the comfortable hill top, and be willing to go into the valley and walk with his lost sheep until it is ready to return to the flock.

Are you ready to have reckless love for your neighbor the way your Father has had for you, so many times? Are you ready to stop allowing hypocrisy to keep you for sharing His victory?

Believers have been taught that the shepherd, our Father, would have to punish us in order for us to see our wrong doing and to come back to the flock. He isn’t going to break our leg so we have to lean on Him.

Our God said “It is finished!”. He just wants us to turn around so He can put us back on His shoulders. He carried our sin to the cross! He loves us. He celebrates with us when we are ready to step out of denial and allow Him to make us anew! Why does society tell us we have to strive to please God? Most don’t think their is hope for their lives because they are “too far gone”. They have “sinned too much”. NEVER.

We WERE lost, but Now we are Found. But to acts as Shepherds for the kingdom we have to be ready to go looking for the 1. No matter what.

It’s ok to be Cold, Tired, Broken, Messy… because our God is a Way-maker! Chain-breaker. Redeemer. Protector. Light among its path. Sheep don’t know what Pharisees require of them. They only know they can’t do it alone anymore.

It’s time church; time to just focus on the ONE. Not the lights. Not the programs. Not the majority. God’s sheep that just want to be welcomed. We don’t deserve it. Yet He did it for us. May we follow in the steps of our Father. Recklessly.