Readjust Your Focus
Matthew 28:18-20
Just about any one who’s been in church for any length of time can tell you that this passage of Scripture is called the Great Commission. Mark 16:15 simplifies it by Jesus saying, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” And even though we call this the great commission we should actually call it the Great Command. Jesus wasn’t suggesting that we do this, He was commanding us to do it.
In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus didn’t come into this world so that we could be comfortable. He didn’t come here so that we could live a life of health, wealth, and prosperity. Now I know that there are some preachers out there who would like for you to believe that, but that isn’t the case. Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."
The reason Jesus Christ came to earth was to seek and to save! The reason He did the things He did here on earth was to seek and to save. The reason Jesus Christ died on the cross was to seek and to save. Not so that we could live lives of comfort, happiness, contentment, wealth, or fame.
Now Jesus gave those who believe in Him the great commission, and He said that if we follow Him then He would make us fishers of men. In First Cor 11:1 Paul tells us, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
Paul is telling us to follow his example because he is following Jesus’ example, and I think that if we look at Paul’s life we would agree with him that he was following Jesus’ example, so…
If Jesus’ #1 Priority was to seek & save that which was lost & we claim to be followers of Christ
and God’s Word says that we’re to imitate Christ. Then, we too must make our #1 priority to seek & save the lost.
Now the problem is that a lot of Christians aren’t concerned with reaching the lost, and a lot of churches aren’t concerned with reaching the lost. Now they’d never admit to that. If you asked them they’d say, “Sure we are concerned with reaching the lost. It’s our hearts desire.” But they don’t make any effort to do so. In the year 2000 over 50% of the churches in America didn’t add one new member by conversion. In other words over ½ of the churches in America didn’t lead a single person to the Lord that year, and I don’t have the figures for 01 or 02 but I would bet that it hasn’t improved much. Sure some churches grew in membership, but that largely due to people moving from church to church, not new believers.
Reaching the lost and discipling the saved should be the two main focuses of any church, but when a church and Christians loose their focus that’s when they get into trouble. Turn with me to Matthew 20:20-24 (read).
How many times have you seen Christians focus more on getting blessed than blessing others? How many times have you seen Christians strive for power or prestige rather than reaching the lost? Now like I said earlier, part of this is due to what a lot of preachers are spewing out. That you have a right to wealth, power, and prestige. But the fact is none of us deserve anything but an eternity in hell. It’s only because of God’s grace and mercy that we have or can do anything.
If you want to know if a church is following Christ then look at what’s going on in it.
If Fussing/fighting/bickering/unforgiveness is common, then church has lost its focus!
We are called to win the lost and bring them to a full knowledge of who our Lord and Savior really is! We are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But there are so many Christians with I problems. I need, I want, I think, that there are hundreds and maybe thousands that we are missing our opportunity to share the good news of God’s grace with.
When a church and Christians loose their focus not only do they strive for the wrong things, fear can replace faith. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 26:69-75 (read).
Some theologians say that this girl who questioned Peter was probably a teenager. Here was Peter (the Rock) a big strong fisherman, and a teenage girl put him on his heels. He lost sight of his purpose. He lost sight of who he was and Whose he was and he ran. And we can do the same thing today. There are churches that back down on critical issues that face our world today. Homosexuality, abortion, co-habitation. Today many churches are so afraid that they will offend someone and then that person might not come to church, so the pastors and churches as a whole won’t even touch these issues. Instead they let them slide and slide and it’s not long before you can’t tell the difference between the church and the world.
Christians can’t stand adversity because we’ve lost sight of our purpose
BUT...If we remember our purpose and concentrate on it... We look at life’s challenges a little differently!
Let me give you an example of how what you’re focusing on changes your perspective. I was a chaplains assistant in the 82nd Airborne, and for those of you who don’t know the 82nd Airborne are a tough bunch of guys. And one of my jobs was to go to the bars and pick up the guys so that they didn’t have to drive. Well one night I got a call from a couple of guys and I went to go get them, when I got there a fight was about to break out. It was the two guys I was there to pick up facing off against about 25 other guys. I walked up and one of the two I was going to pick up looked at me and then looked back at the 25 guys and said, “Three against 25, boy are you guys in trouble.”
If we are doing what the Lord tells us to do we’ll look at problems differently and won’t run when times get hard! “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
We’ve got to keep our focus. We’ve got to make an effort to reach the lost. We’ve got be discipling those who are already in the church.
When a church and Christians loose their focus not only do they strive for the wrong things, and not only do they give into fear and persecution, but they forget what the Lord has done for them.
A lot of Christians today have no peace, they have no joy, they live lives filled with anxiety, and depression. When Christians forget the Lord they start trusting in other things. Themselves, the economy, the stock market, the government, or other people. But that’s building your house on the sand and when the storm comes it’s going to come crashing down around you. We see these things happening in the Old Testament when the Israelites where in the wilderness. We see them in the life of King David, and we see them in the New Testament in the life of Peter. And we see them in our own lives. When we take our focus off of Jesus it’s easy to forget. We forget that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son. And that Son, Jesus Christ willingly stepped out of glorious heaven and was born in a stinky, smelly, dusty manger. We forget that Jesus endured everything the devil threw at Him. We forget that He was persecuted, mocked, and crucified by the very people that He came to save. And we forget that He took us, who were dead in trespasses and sins, and made us alive unto God. That He redeemed us, bought us back, from sin by His precious blood. That He made atonement for us, that He justified us, and that He is to this very day interceding for us at the right hand of His Father. Not because He had to, but because He loves us unconditionally, but we forget those things.
Instead, we like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient. Pillars of strength and achievement. And sure there are a lot of people who do a lot of things. There are a lot of people who amass great wealth and possessions. There are a lot of people who achieve fame and fortune.
But the problem is that some of those very same people are going to spend an eternity in hell, and all that they did and all that they achieved, and gained in this life won’t amount to a hill of beans when their time comes.
And there are a lot of Christians who have lost their focus who are building with wood, hay, and straw. Turn with me to 1st Corinthians 3:10-15 (read). The Bible says that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon mans heart. God knows your motivation. God knows where your focus is. You can’t fool Him, you can’t manipulate Him, and you can’t play games with Him.
And there are some who would say, if they were honest, that’s why they aren’t actively fulfilling the Great Commission. That they really don’t care and it would be hypocritical of them if they were witnessing. And if that’s you today I want to commend you for your honesty and sincerity, because most Christians would never admit that, but I also want to tell you that you don’t have to stay where you are. Your joy, and fervor, and desire to do God’s will can be restored. You may have to do a lot of back tracking to find where you initially got off track, you may have to ask forgiveness, or even give forgiveness to someone who has wronged you. You may have to repent of some sin that’s infiltrated your life. Or it may be that you’ve just been playing at being a Christian but have never been truly born again. Whatever the case don’t put it off any longer.
Our world is becoming more crazy and confused each and every day. With war looming on the horizon, which could possibly include counter strikes against us from terrorist organizations. With the economy on a roller coaster ride. With plagues and viruses, not to mention the regular hazards of life, none of us know what tomorrow will hold. But with all that’s going on I can’t think of a better time to get right with God than right now. And if you’ve never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then today is the day of salvation. So tonight I’m going to extend an invitation to you. If you feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart I want you to come forward whether it’s to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or maybe it’s to get back into fellowship with God, or maybe you would just like to receive prayer about something specific, whatever it is I invite you to come. And as these come to the rest of you I would like for you to recommit yourselves to the Great Commission. To adjust your focus, and to purpose in your heart to reach out to the lost in your community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
