Who is really "lost"?

“All who wander are not lost.” (Tolkien, Lord of the Rings)

“I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.” (Psalm 119:176)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

              Suddenly, on the streets of post-Soviet Riga, Latvia, I realized that I was lost.  I had just come from a school gymnasium where some ministry colleagues were leading a youth sports event. I felt confident that I could find my way back to the guest flat where I was staying. However, I had not reckoned with the fact that the Stalin-era apartment buildings in that part of the city all looked the same. I didn’t have an address, didn’t have a cell phone (this was the late 90s) and could speak neither Latvian nor Russian. It was getting dark and starting to rain. I felt panic starting to well up inside of me. How was I going to find my way back “home?” I was on my way but lost!          

The idea that only non-Christians are “lost” is not quite true – according to the Bible. Some of the most spiritually “lost” people might be Christians who thought they knew where they were but suddenly find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They may be looking for a real spiritual “home.”

              In the Hebrew Bible people who are considered “lost sheep” are those who are already part of the chosen people of God. The psalmist, for example, admits “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands” (119:176, emphasis mine).  The “lost sheep” in the prophets are Israelites, oppressed by leaders of Israel who have abused them (See Jeremiah 50:6 and Ezekiel 34).  In the Gospels, Jesus seems to indicate that the “lost” are the people of Israel (Matt. 10:6; 15:24) who are “harassed and helpless” (Matt 9:36; Mark 6:34). Rather than “guilty,” the “lost” are people who belong to God but have either strayed or are victims of neglectful cruel authorities.

              The other problem is that the Bible doesn’t say that all those who are “outside” of God’s chosen people are lost. In fact, it seems to indicate that some of them are on the right track as far as God is concerned. There is, for example, the curious passage in Acts where Peter says to the household of the Roman centurion Cornelius, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34, emphasis mine). And in Romans, Paul says, “God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (2:6-8, emphasis mine). 

              I offer these examples to challenge us to rethink how we view people, not only “outside” but also “inside” the Christian faith. Wanderers can become “lost”, but not all who wander are lost. Some are just exploring or enjoying the journey. Some are fleeing from harm.

Sometimes I feel just as “lost” spiritually as I did in a physical sense that evening in Riga.  So honestly, I can no longer only view non-Christians as “lost” and simply objects of my evangelism efforts. Some of them are “Corneliuses” who fear God and do what is right, simply waiting to hear more about Jesus. And some “lost” people are simply wandering Christians, perhaps hurt by the institutional church, looking for the real community of friendship that the church is called to be. And Jesus is seeking us all to save us!