The Heart of Jesus
Recently I was pondering Matthew 9:36-38 (NLT):
“[Jesus] felt pity for the crowds… He said… ‘The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”
Jesus didn’t look at the crowds of lost people and just shrug his shoulders. He felt “pity” and compassion for them. He saw them as “sheep without a shepherd”—lost, wandering, insecure, hungry, and hurting. He saw a great harvest of souls ready to be reaped—if only there were enough workers.
Jesus didn’t ask his disciples (and us) to pray that the crowds of lost people would be more receptive. He asked us to pray for more workers. He said “pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest.” The One in charge of the harvest is looking for co-laborers to go out into his fields. He doesn’t see the world as a bad and hopeless place to be avoided, but as “his fields” where people he cares deeply about are going to be lost forever if they are not reached with his gospel of grace.
Lord, help me to have your heart for the lost. Help me to see as you see. And help me to engage those I lead as workers in your fields.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Clay, I just wanted to thank you for being open with your struggles and honestly sharing what God is doing in your life. I believe your transparency in this series is going to be a huge impact to you personally and to GP. I know this is not easy for you, but know that many are praying for you. This is an “audacious” step and I want you to know that “I am with you heart and soul.” (1 Sam 14:7) God has great plans for you as the leader of Grace Place.
Mark
July 11th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Thanks brother, your encouraging words mean a lot to me. Especially the 1 Sam. 14:7 pledge! Clay
July 12th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I read a little blurb once that made me laugh. It goes as follows: “Christians are like manure, if you pile them all up in one place and keep them there, they stink up the neighborhood! But if you spread them out all over the neighborhood, they enrich the whole area”. The point being that we are to be salt and light IN the world. That is not always easy but…
I also have come to realize that best way for a church to grow is to have it’s members grow in Christ. The more we grow in our relationship with Christ the more we become salt and light in the world. I know I fail lots of times to be that, but I also know I am becoming stronger in my faith and it seems to spill out in many ways in my relationships with others.
Philippians 3:8-14 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may KNOW HIM and the POWER OF HIS RESSURECTION and the FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I guess the key part of this passage for me is challenging. To Know HIM, understand the power of the ressurection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Thanks for sharing your struggles and your heart!