Reach One

  

I John 2:15 clearly says, “love not the world, neither the things of the world...”

If we are instructed to not love the world, then obviously we are to strive to change it! What many Christians do is alienate themselves from the lost around them. Remember John 3:16? The verse clearly says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten...” Now wait a minute; John forbids us to love the world and yet Jesus did and does love the world. There must be an explanation for this “seeming” contradiction. There is!

When the Bible tells us “God so loved the world...” it means the people in it. God loves the people of this planet; lost people, mixed-up people, weird people. He loves them so much He was willing to send heaven’s best for the world’s worst. John (in I John 1:15) is referring to this world system; the ungodly entertainment industry, the corrupt systems of government, the dishonest practices, the messed-up culture that we all face every day. If we pull away from the people that are engaged in (trapped in) this corrupt culture, we will never reach them with the glorious gospel.

As “children of the light” (Ephesians 5:7-10)-we must penetrate the darkness, engage the culture, and present the gospel as once hopeless, lost people ourselves who have been saved by God’s grace. If we never have any contact with those lost and bound by sin, how can we ever reach them? We must abide by the instruction in I John 2:15. But remember; it’s the people Jesus died for and we must try to reach them.

The Pastor's Pocket
Pastor Bruce Freeman