A Bad Business Model – The Parable of the Lost Sheep

 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? – Luke 15:4

When I was hired on at Fayetteville First UMC, the name of their Wednesday night youth program was 1:99.  This was a reference to the Parable of the Lost Sheep found in Luke 15.  The title served as a reminder to the students every week that no matter what they did, whatever went on in their lives, Jesus was looking to bring them back.

I’ve since updated the name and changed the branding mostly in anticipation of the new youth space.  Sometimes you just need a fresh look.  But the idea is still vital to our youth, and really this parable is still important to me.

Actually, it’s rather convicting and ludicrous to me.

In the story, Jesus seems to suggest that leaving 99 faithful sheep unattended in the wilderness is the logical answer, so the good shepherd can chase after one wayward sheep.  Honestly, that doesn’t make good business sense.

But it reminds me of something I read recently in an article about a new church plant.  On their wall they had painted a little reminder to their congregation:

We care more about the people we reach than the people we keep. 

Wow. What a gutsy move.

As I scrolled through the article, I wondered how that sign impacted the church congregation every day.  I wondered how it influenced the visitors.  They really didn’t expand on the sign, so I was left to wonder, but I was still impressed.

In a lot of churches, I am not sure our attention and resources are directed toward primarily reaching the people outside.  Mostly, we tend to take care of each other, which is lovely.  There is something to be said for that.  In fact, Jesus said something about it, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” John 13:35.

However, loving one another does not mean we get to keep to ourselves.  It’s a hard and difficult truth to realize that you cannot retire from the Great Commission.  It’s a lifelong commitment.

I can already tell you, it’s not a good business model to focus the resouces and energies of the church on the people who are not even members yet, but to some extent, it seems like a faithful business model.

And really, we’re called to be faithful disciples.