Luke 15:1-10

Luke 15:1-10

How Christ-like am I becoming? If the goal of a disciple is to be like Christ how is that measured? There are plenty of measurements that can be faked but do not mean I am becoming like Christ. Refusal to do some things, like go to R rated movies, or doing others things, like memorizing scripture, can be done by non-believers. These practices are not bad things in and of themselves, but the fact that they can be done by someone who does not love God, which is the first and greatest commandment, means that they are not a reliable means to measure if I am becoming like Christ. The best way I can measure my Christ-likeness is my reaction to lost people.

In the parables of the sheep and coin God is portrayed as one who is looking for the lost love.. That picture is set in contrast to the Pharisees and the Scribes. What is my reaction to the undesirable? How do I respond to the lost? What is my reaction to the absent sinner? The sheep is not a church member who has missed a few weeks or a month of services. The lost one is the mean old bitter woman living in a filthy trailer, the hard hearted cruel racist wallowing in hate, the gay prostitute, the crack whore selling herself for a $5 rock, the most revolting person I could ever encounter. While more respectable people can also be the lost sheep it is my rejection of the one that I personally find repugnant that tells of my Christ-likeness.

The real measure of my discipleship is how I respond to the lost! The mess of their lives is the result of their wandering. They are far from God because they have been absent from the love and presence of the Lord for so long. The wandering sheep deteriorates till it finally dies. It will not grow healthier, stronger and more handsome. If I am shocked at the mess of people’s lives it is because I am too foolish to realize that the absence of God is the cause of their slow creeping death. The self destructive behaviors and their lostness are two sides of the same coin.

“Lord, help me to love like Jesus the most unacceptable people. AMEN”