The Deep And Wide Of That One Lost Sheep

Book Review And Giveaway: Grace by Ma... The HA!! : Appreciation

The Deep And Wide Of That One Lost Sheep

Every sheep matters to Jesus

God works in some really mysterious ways. I am continually astonished at His wisdom and the ways of His influence in the world. Sometimes He asks us to do things that seem illogical. Should we just do it anyway? Yep, although I admit I’ve often questioned, second guessed and headed off in my own direction, many times.

I was meeting with another believer recently, trying to explain to my friend the 5 faith catalysts. This is an Andy Stanley concept that seems pretty solid (btw, I think most of Andy’s ideas are super tight!). Andy outlines in his book, Deep & Wide, the 5 essential ingredients or components that seem to comprise everybody’s faith story. One of these catalysts is providential relationships, or how people seem to show up in our lives and leave a lasting impression that draws us in. I’ve written already about a few of mine, The Journey Home is my favorite story to tell about a special friend, John Hall, and how his influence brought me closer to God. So as we were talking about providential relationships, my friend drifted off into somewhat of a trance. It was long and very noticeable. When he came back to our conversation he started talking about the Bible story of the lost sheep, and that got me thinking…

The story of the lost sheep is a short one so I’m just going to toss it in here:

Jesus said, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12-14

Ever since I read the book Deep & Wide I’ve been thinking about just that, what it means to be both deep and wide as a Christian. Andy’s deep & wide are the church’s founding fathers desire to make North Point deeply rooted in Biblical truth and culturally relevant. They strive to make it a place where everyone who shows up will grow personally from the church experience and the delivery will appeal to a broad audience. I think there’s a deep AND wide message for all of us in this passage about the lost sheep…

I’ve heard pastors utilize the lost sheep story in a variety of ways to help teach about Jesus and God’s goodness. Generally, we learn from these verses of how important each of us is to Jesus, and how God’s economy differs from that of the world. Oh the importance of that one lost sheep to the shepherd! If you’re a lost sheep or haven’t had a relationship with Jesus just yet you can be sure that He wants one with you. Jesus wants a relationship with you just as much as anyone else. And, we can’t play hide-and-seek with Him. The lost sheep in Jesus’ story “wandered off” … indicating that this fellow once was a follower but for some reason has gone astray. Not to worry though as He knows where you’re at… what you’re doing… who you’re with… how it’s going… yep, everything. Going deep with Jesus is His desire to connect with each and every one of us. That one lost sheep, in many ways, refers to each of us. We were all lost without hope until Jesus came along, right? Like being adrift at sea without a paddle. Yep, you can be sure that all of us at one time or another were lost sheep. Where are you now? Or, maybe God is calling you right now to help bring back a lost sheep… like, as Elwood Blues said, “we’re on a mission from God!”

My take on the wide part and what happened with the flock of sheep is centered on having a broad influence. Maybe think of the 99 as a group that was observant. They individually opened their eyes to see what He inspired down deep within each of them, and they experienced some things in this life that brought them together in harmony. Maybe even making the earth shake along the way! And so it was in terms of the mixer blending together the many people, personalities, priorities, and passions that we all introduce into our environment every day. Another face in the crowd? Maybe just the oneness of the body of believers.

The discussion with my friend about the providential relationships didn’t lead to my understanding of his thoughts about that one lost sheep. Perhaps it was about his sheep experience. Maybe the Holy Spirit took him to some other place that day, a place in his past that finally connected the dots, for him, or to know a special meaning of these verses about the sheep. Whatever it was, I witnessed one of the “Oh My God!!” moments in someone’s life. For me personally, this verse has a new significance of how Jesus is continuing after that one lost sheep, how broad our influence can be, where my friend went to on that day of our conversation, and how we’ll never know for sure how we might influence someone else through the opportunity of a providential relationship.