Baptist City Blog

Heaven's Focus

Luke 15:7

"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

One of the mistakes I made in my early ministry was focusing on the rebel more than I focused on those who needed and wanted my help. Though God used me in spite of my mistakes, there were many who I could have focused upon and helped in a greater way. When I realized that my focus should be on helping those who wanted my help, it resulted in many more people being helped.

Often you see ministries that seem to focus upon the rebel. Christian schools many times will ruin the good child because they focus so much on how to salvage the rebel. With the focus being upon how to salvage the rebel, the good child slips through the cracks and ends up not being helped in the way that they could have and should have been. Many different church ministries will focus upon the rebel, when they should focus upon the ones who really want to be helped.

In the verse above, you will notice that Heaven's focus is upon restoring the lost. There are three parables in Luke 15. Two of the three deal with the lost and one deals with the loss of a rebel. It is interesting to note that Heaven's focus was not upon the rebel. Don't get me wrong, I believe we should pray for the one who has rebelled, but too much focus is placed upon the prodigal when it should be placed upon the lost. You can see from the verse above that Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Yes, Heaven is thrilled when people are right with God, but the thing that gets Heaven to throw a party is when the sinner repents.

The purpose of the church is to be a spiritual hospital. I often say that a church is an emergency room where patients who are sick and wounded from sin come every Sunday and Wednesday to get help. Churches must be careful about losing that focus. When a Pharisaical attitude starts creeping into the church, then the sinner will not feel that they can get help from that church. Sinners should feel welcome in every church. No, they shouldn't feel that they can continue in their sin and feel good, but they should feel that they can get the help they need and feel loved and wanted at the same time.

Furthermore, be sure to place the focus of every ministry in the church on helping the ones who need and want our help. Ministry leaders should not give the rebel the attention they want, but rather they should focus on helping the one's who are desperately wanting their help. When you focus on the sinner who wants help, then that lets the rebel know that their rebellion is not the way to get the attention they desire.

Moreover, parents need to be careful to help the children that want their help. Parents often spend much of their time trying to bring the rebellious child back and end up forsaking the other children who need and want their help. Parent, let God deal with the rebel and focus your attention on the child who will respond to your help.

Last, every Christian should focus on bringing the lost to Christ. Though the parables in Luke 15 deal with saved people, I still believe that the principle of Heaven rejoicing over one sinner repenting applies to those who are lost in sin. Be busy every week doing your best to win the lost to Jesus Christ.

Always remember that a clean emergency room is an unused emergency room. If the church is doing what it is supposed to do, you will find the sick and hurting throughout the church. Be sure that your focus is the same of Heaven's focus and that is helping the sinner to repent.