Continuing a study of Luke 10.
Luke 10:3 says this: Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.
Jesus told his disciples to go–or more accurately, "be going." Yet we usually ask people to come. "Come to our church," "Come to our special meeting!" Even in our house churches we ask people to come.
Why did Jesus tell us to go? If we go, we are the ones who are crossing the cultural barrier. We are the ones to get uncomfortable. Think about it: what is it like for someone who has never been in church to come to one of our meetings. It is a total culture shock! We may ask them to sing songs they don't know, to listen to a monolog or take part in a discussion they know nothing about. There are reasons we are told to go.
Jesus may send us to places where we don't naturally feel comfortable. But Jesus was known as a friend of sinners. He was willing to mix with people that the upright religious people of his day refused to have anything to do with. He was comfortable with tax collectors and prostitutes. Notorious sinners hung around him (Luke 15:1-2). Are we willing to risk going to places where "sinners" hang out if Jesus asks us to?
Then Jesus tells us that our going is like throwing lambs to the wolves!
What kind of shepherd would do that? Send his lambs to the wolves?
What is the protection for a lamb? As Neil Cole likes to point out, it's not their superior intelligence, or their camouflage, or their speed. They have no natural defense but their shepherd. When we go to dangerous places, Jesus himself is our protection.
4 replies on “Sent to the wolves: how to start a house/organic church in the harvest”
Great post!
Thank you!
This is so encouraging, Felicity, because my fellowship tries to do a weekly outreach, and we have become very conscious of the culture shock that many experience, even when we offer free refreshments. We continue to go because we are learning something all of the time.
Marion, I think it’s great that your fellowship is so outward looking!