We Found Them!....Where Did They Go?
We’re going to deal with two kinds of people: Those who were found and are lost again, and those who are just lost. Today we're looking at what the first kind looks like.
Those who were found and are lost again – those who have been in church, who understand what’s going on, and they’re wandering from the faith. They heard the truth, they knew the truth, and now they’re wandering. Within that, there are three types of people.
1. Theological Wanderers: they start wandering away from the truth theologically. They start saying things like, “I’m not sure Jesus is the only way. Other religions say other things, and they don’t seem bad.” Then they start saying that they don’t necessarily call themselves Christians, but that they’re very spiritual. They practice spirituality instead of Christianity. But they’ve heard the truth, and now they’re wandering. They’re not sure the Bible is totally true –it has lots of good things to say, particularly Proverbs, it’s like a year’s worth of fortune cookies! Not sure Noah’s Ark thing really happened, not sure Jesus was fully God and fully man – can’t really wrap my head around that so I’m not sure it’s true. Well, I can’t wrap my head around high-level calculus, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. I’m assuming other people know how it works because they can build these massive machines, so okay cool. They may also say they’re not sure that the death on the cross was really for them. It was a terrible tragedy, but...for all the sins of all the world? Not sure he physically rose from the dead – maybe he reincarnated and now he’s a spirit. They may say they’re not sure about certain things that the Bible says are wrong, don’t really believe that people really go to hell if they don’t know Christ. Do we really need Jesus? They start wondering about these things but because they don’t search the Scripture for the answers, they start wandering theologically. Thanks to people like Oprah and Dr. Phil and Joel Osteen, it makes it really easy. Don’t try to rewrite the Bible or start cutting out the parts you don’t like, like Thomas Jefferson. You take what it says or you reject it all. You don’t pick and choose, but that’s what spiritual people do. They pick verses they like, mix in some Judaism, some verses from the Qu’ran that they like, and come up with some good religious stuff that they like and that “works for them.”
Those who were found and are lost again – those who have been in church, who understand what’s going on, and they’re wandering from the faith. They heard the truth, they knew the truth, and now they’re wandering. Within that, there are three types of people.
1. Theological Wanderers: they start wandering away from the truth theologically. They start saying things like, “I’m not sure Jesus is the only way. Other religions say other things, and they don’t seem bad.” Then they start saying that they don’t necessarily call themselves Christians, but that they’re very spiritual. They practice spirituality instead of Christianity. But they’ve heard the truth, and now they’re wandering. They’re not sure the Bible is totally true –it has lots of good things to say, particularly Proverbs, it’s like a year’s worth of fortune cookies! Not sure Noah’s Ark thing really happened, not sure Jesus was fully God and fully man – can’t really wrap my head around that so I’m not sure it’s true. Well, I can’t wrap my head around high-level calculus, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. I’m assuming other people know how it works because they can build these massive machines, so okay cool. They may also say they’re not sure that the death on the cross was really for them. It was a terrible tragedy, but...for all the sins of all the world? Not sure he physically rose from the dead – maybe he reincarnated and now he’s a spirit. They may say they’re not sure about certain things that the Bible says are wrong, don’t really believe that people really go to hell if they don’t know Christ. Do we really need Jesus? They start wondering about these things but because they don’t search the Scripture for the answers, they start wandering theologically. Thanks to people like Oprah and Dr. Phil and Joel Osteen, it makes it really easy. Don’t try to rewrite the Bible or start cutting out the parts you don’t like, like Thomas Jefferson. You take what it says or you reject it all. You don’t pick and choose, but that’s what spiritual people do. They pick verses they like, mix in some Judaism, some verses from the Qu’ran that they like, and come up with some good religious stuff that they like and that “works for them.”
Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Is there anything wrong with philosophy? No. I love philosophy; I’m one of those geeks who can have a lot of fun discussing that stuff. But when it starts disagreeing with the Bible, then we’re in trouble. Then Paul adds this interesting phrase about following human tradition and elemental spirits, instead of following Christ. Some of you are still so new to Christ that you’re still trying to figure it out. You’re reading a lot of books outside the Bible, but you never actually read the Bible. So you start thinking and talking about what this guy says about what the Bible says – why not find out what the Bible says? That’s why I say get a solid study Bible and start digging in. Pick it apart verse by verse. I can’t tell you how many texts, Facebook messages, and emails I get about “what does the Bible say about this?” Paul also addresses this in Ephesians 4. The more you read and study, you’ll start to see how it all weaves together. You see how Boaz giving Ruth a whole new life starts to sound like what Jesus did for us.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists
He gave lots of people with different gifts. Evangelism: Billy Graham was one of the greatest of these in our time. Nici’s grandpa was ordained as a Baptist preacher and owned a Ford dealership in Dunkirk. When he accepted Christ, the whole town of Dunkirk got flipped around, because he had these huge signs at his dealership, on all the concrete trucks that the family owns, all about Jesus. I couldn’t talk to him for longer than ten minutes without hearing about Christ. He knew doctrine, could teach class after class, but where his heart lay was in telling you about the love of Christ. If he saw someone accept Christ, he would jump up and down with excitement. He was an evangelist!
Ephesians 4:11-14a And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves...
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves...
...and whatever sounds good next. Because we’re sheep. We’re pendular. We never find the center, we’re way over here ad when that doesn’t work out for us, we go all the way over to the other side. Jesus gave us these people so we can find the center, and learn and grow and go out and do. Theological wandering. If you don’t know what’s going on, if you don’t know much about the Bible, you can easily start to shift one way or another, so James’s heart as a pastor is concerned with those who have heard the truth and started to wonder if they really believe it.
2. Moral wanderers: you know, I know what the Bible says, but here’s the thing: I don’t like what the Bible say. I’m not really a fan, so I’m just not going to do it. I’m going to do what I want to do, because it’s fun and feels good, and I know what the Bible says but this is more fun. Example: I want to live with my boy/girlfriend. I know the Bible says I shouldn’t, but I want to have sex and am not ready for marriage, so since you think that’s bad and the Bible says it’s wrong but I want to do it anyway, I’m going to stop coming to church. They step back from the truth because they don’t want to be uncomfortable or force their beliefs on anyone else, so they step back from the church and from the truth. It’s like watching someone walk off the edge of a cliff. The more you try to tell them to stop, not to do this, you can’t make the choice for them, and they just walk off.
2. Moral wanderers: you know, I know what the Bible says, but here’s the thing: I don’t like what the Bible say. I’m not really a fan, so I’m just not going to do it. I’m going to do what I want to do, because it’s fun and feels good, and I know what the Bible says but this is more fun. Example: I want to live with my boy/girlfriend. I know the Bible says I shouldn’t, but I want to have sex and am not ready for marriage, so since you think that’s bad and the Bible says it’s wrong but I want to do it anyway, I’m going to stop coming to church. They step back from the truth because they don’t want to be uncomfortable or force their beliefs on anyone else, so they step back from the church and from the truth. It’s like watching someone walk off the edge of a cliff. The more you try to tell them to stop, not to do this, you can’t make the choice for them, and they just walk off.
Ephesians 5:1-3 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you
All these things you’re wanting, these immoral things you want to do, shouldn’t even be talked about. We shouldn’t even have to deal with this stuff, but we do because there’s sin in the world and people are wandering.
3. Relational wanderers: Brothers and sisters in Christ wander away from community with you. It seems to happen quickly, you send messages but get no response, you try to check up on them, tell them you love and miss you – you know they’ve read it but they don’t show up anymore, and you don’t know what’s going on. They don’t want to be in relationship with God’s people anymore. They don’t want to be under Biblical authority. They become very vulnerable, because without Jesus as our shepherd and the pastor as under-shepherd, there’s no one to keep the sheep safe. Safe from what? Wolves. Safe from wolves. A sheep that wanders off by himself is going to be a dead sheep, because the wolves will attack. I’m not talking about moving from one Bible-believing church to another one because it’s just not the place where you are to be serving. That doesn’t upset me, because we’re all part of the Church. If God’s not calling you to be here, go be where God is calling you to be. In the end, we’ll all be together! It’s not that they’re fellowshipping with a different group, we’re talking about people who turn their back and walk away, not knowing where they’re going but taking the risk of going alone. That hurts, because you see them walking off the edge of the cliff. As a pastor, you see the sheep wandering off, hear the wolves howl, and know you can’t do anything to get them back. We persist in prayer, in love, and continue to reach out to them. Why? Because James says if anyone wanders and someone brings them back – that’s not just giving up on them – that’s hoping that God will bring them back.
3. Relational wanderers: Brothers and sisters in Christ wander away from community with you. It seems to happen quickly, you send messages but get no response, you try to check up on them, tell them you love and miss you – you know they’ve read it but they don’t show up anymore, and you don’t know what’s going on. They don’t want to be in relationship with God’s people anymore. They don’t want to be under Biblical authority. They become very vulnerable, because without Jesus as our shepherd and the pastor as under-shepherd, there’s no one to keep the sheep safe. Safe from what? Wolves. Safe from wolves. A sheep that wanders off by himself is going to be a dead sheep, because the wolves will attack. I’m not talking about moving from one Bible-believing church to another one because it’s just not the place where you are to be serving. That doesn’t upset me, because we’re all part of the Church. If God’s not calling you to be here, go be where God is calling you to be. In the end, we’ll all be together! It’s not that they’re fellowshipping with a different group, we’re talking about people who turn their back and walk away, not knowing where they’re going but taking the risk of going alone. That hurts, because you see them walking off the edge of the cliff. As a pastor, you see the sheep wandering off, hear the wolves howl, and know you can’t do anything to get them back. We persist in prayer, in love, and continue to reach out to them. Why? Because James says if anyone wanders and someone brings them back – that’s not just giving up on them – that’s hoping that God will bring them back.