Weeping For Outsiders

Our churches have been talking about being more intentional about reaching out to those that are "outside."

I sent out the following email to encourage us in this:

Jim Petersen lists three obstacles that we all face when we consider reaching out to others:

1. Fear: “What will people think?”
2. Time: “There is no time in my life to do even one more thing.”
3. Personal inadequacy: “I’m just not ready for this.”

I happened to read these words of Jesus, yesterday, written in The Message translation: “I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” (Matthew 9:13)… hmm… I’m the insider that He’s not here to coddle… those out there that don’t know him are the outsiders… That shows where His focus is…

But, I'm sharing this with you because I really enjoyed this email response from one of my friends-in-community:

Interesting, Roger, I have also been thinking alot about reaching out to the "outsiders"; frankly, they are more "real" than many believers I know, and they are searching, actually they are wanting to be listened to and made to know that they are loved "unconditionally." This has been my biggest challenge, but I know that the sign of spiritual maturity (for me) is when I weep for the lost like Jesus did--it spurns me on to get out of my way (egoway) and just go for it...thanks for the reminder. YO