"A tip: if you're invited to your friend's country club to go the lost and found bin and pretend that you left something there. Next thing you know, you have a fabulous sweater." ~ Lisa Birnbach
I don't know about you, but that sounds like a pretty good tip. By the way, the quote has nothing to do with what I'm about to write, it just sounded funny to me. Happy Monday!
I have been part of Transformation Nation (Church) for the past year and a half, and the church's mission has always been;
Representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ.
In the course of the year and a half, I have heard those words a couple hundred times. But not until yesterday, did one word strike out to me.
You're probably thinking the word: LOST.
*** Buzzer sound ***
Second guess, anyone?
I'll save you the thinking, after all it is a Monday.
FOUND.
Kinda weird, right?
When we think of representing God to people, the first people that come to our minds are, to mention a few, maybe the homeless, the drug addict, those people that need deliverance from their words (someone's already coming to mind, huh?), you know, essentially the people we deem lost.
We don't think of the people that seem to have their act together. We don't think of those that have already been saved. Typically.
I was found 15 years ago! I was thinking about that yesterday and it sounds crazy to say that! A decade and a half!
I have been found for 15 years. I have been found, but some days it feels like I'm lost again. If I'm being honest, some days I need a representation of Christ just as much as anyone that's lost.
Nobody likes feeling lost. We prefer to be the ones to do the seeking, maybe because it genuinely comes from a good place, but maybe, perhaps, if we can help someone find their way back, then we wouldn't feel lost ourselves.
I've been lost. I've been found. I've been found and still lived my life like I was lost. I've tried to help someone else try to find their way back, partly so I wouldn't feel lost.
But I'm grateful to know that I don't have to be perfect, but I'm progressing.
And as much as I'd like to represent God to the lost, I'd like to not forget about the found. I think that's why we don't just represent Him to the lost. We represent Him to the found too, because the lost need a transformation, and the found new a renewal.