Covenant Connection
A Message From the General Overseer • g. dennis mCguire
The Great Commission
or the Great Ommission?
T
HE BURNING QUESTION that we must answer as a not sheep. Unless a shepherd finds a lost sheep and brings it
church is this: “Is our kind of church reaching our back, it will continue to wander away from the fold. Rarely, if
kind of world?” We can be growing numerically, ever, does a sinner seek God without the loving help of some
financially, and in other ways, but unless we are winning the saved person.
lost, we are failing Christ’s command and commission. A bar- Jesus also saw their depravity in sin. He often looked upon
ren altar is a glaring indictment of any church. the multitudes and was moved with compassion. He knew
Indifference to the plight of the lost has been called the how sin-sick they were. How tragic it is that we do not see and
dry rot of the church. How can we be indifferent when we feel a burden for the spiritual needs about us. We need to see
consider the worth of every soul in God’s eyes? The psalmist men as Jesus saw them.
declares in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its full- In addition, He saw their destiny in hell. He saw beyond
ness” (NKJV). Despite owning all the wealth of this world, their present physical needs and spoke to their spiritual needs.
God gave His most precious gift for the salvation the world: David characterized the lack of concern of the Church for the
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten lost in Psalm 142:4: “I looked on my right hand, and beheld,
IS OUR KIND OF CHURCH REACHING OUR KIND OF
WORLD? WE CAN BE GROWING NUMERICALLY,
FINANCIALLY, AND IN OTHER WAYS, BUT UNLESS WE
ARE WINNING THE LOST, WE ARE FAILING CHRIST’S
COMMAND AND COMMISSION. A BARREN ALTAR IS A
GLARING INDICTMENT OF ANY CHURCH.
Son” (John 3:16). What price could be placed on the blood of but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me;
God’s only Son? no man cared for my soul.”
How can we be indifferent when we consider the immor- Unconcern is so unlike Jesus. One can feel His compassion
tality of the soul? There was a time when we were not in exis- as He looked over the city of Jerusalem and cried out, “O
tence. But when the sun has burned itself out in the sky, we Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest
will still be living on; when all the stars have passed into them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered
nothingness from which God called them into being, we will thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under
still be living on. There are only two alternatives—we will her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34). Even as He hung
either be rejoicing around the throne of God or we will be on the cross dying, He prayed for those who opposed Him,
burning in a devil’s hell. saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they
Indifference is so unlike Jesus. Christ saw in the multitudes do” (23:34).
three things that should cause all of us to be concerned for Do you remember how He sought you and found you? You
the lost. First, He saw their departure from God. He saw the didn’t find Him. He found you. He wants to use you to find
multitudes as “sheep scattered abroad” (see Matthew 9:36). someone else. Is the Great Commission a part of your Christ-
Sheep without a shepherd are the most helpless of all animals. ian walk, or is it the “Great Omission” from your Christian
Many other animals will come home when they are lost, but experience?
EVANGEL • MAR 2008 3
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