Can you be a Christian and not have compassion and mercy for the lost?
It seems to me either you can’t be a believer or many in the church are hypocrites. Let me make this clear, there are no Christian hypocrites in the church, there may be some that act like hypocrites but according to the dictionary a hypocrite is a pretender or an actor.
Think about this, if every person that is in the church won one soul to the Lord the churches couldn’t hold them all! Either there are many non-believers in the church or there are many believers that have no concern for the lost.
Think about your own experience with the Lord, how many souls have you personally won to the Lord with God’s help? Do you seek opportunities to share your faith with others or have you bought into the lie that says you shouldn’t talk about politics or religion. I heard that statement a while ago from one of my sisters and it bothered me for quite sometime. That is the world talking trying to keep everyone in the dark on both subjects.
Jesus, when he told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem, spoke about John baptizing with water but said they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. Then in Acts 1:8 Jesus said to them, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” This tells me that if you are a Christian, and not a pretender, then you have the Holy Spirit in you and you should have a concern for the lost.
I thank and praise the Lord that He has used me many times over the years to witness and to share the greatest story and blessings that have ever taken place in human history. I admit that it seemed easier years ago to share than it is now but I still try. I think that some of the problem is that as the years go by we tend to lose some of our excitement and joy. We let circumstances and situations cloud our view then we start focusing on ourselves and our problems that we become so concerned with ‘us’ we can’ t be concerned with anyone else.
If you always look at the clouds in your life, you may miss all the rainbows. If you focus on the circumstances, situations and hurts in your life you will be totally consumed with yourself and no one else. You will more than likely be angry and bitter and even become mad at God for what you are going through.
Think of Jonah, who is a prophet of God, as he was in the big fish’s belly he cries out to the Lord. Jonah said in Jonah 2: verse 7, “When my life was ebbing away I remembered you Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” In doing this Jonah was seeking God’s compassion and forgiveness. Jonah’s problem was he wanted God’s compassion, love and deliverance but he had no concern for the Assyrians because they were Gentiles.
You may not have realized it but God’s mercy and grace and His great compassion was extended to the Gentiles in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament showing that God loves everyone. He is not willing that any be lost but all come to repentance.
This is the reason Jonah was running from God it is recorded in Jonah 4:1-3,
“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
What is wrong with this picture? Jonah wanted God’s love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness for himself but not for the Ninevehites. He was so angry he wanted to die! There may have been up to 120,000 people and Jonah wanted God to destroy them all. At the end of the chapter we read that Jonah was more concerned about a vine that God allowed to grow up to shade his head then he was for all these people.
What about you, are you concerned about lost people or are other things more important to you? I think we, like Jonah, wanted God’s mercy, grace, forgiveness and love in our lives and we received it, now we should want to pass it on. If there is any reason why you aren’t witnessing and sharing what God has done in your life think about what is written here. Then pray and ask the Lord for a fresh anointing and the power and boldness to be a witness for Him. This is His will for your life. Also ask Him for a deep concern and love for the lost, then start sharing what the Lord has done and is doing in your life. Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord! God bless you and have a great day.
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