to steal a line from an old motley crue song...don't go away mad, just go away...
so when people start to leave a ministry, do you:
a) pray for them because they must have something wrong and it is better for them to leave
b) hold the door open for them to assist their leaving and say "we'll pray for you"
c) tell everyone that it was God's will for them to leave, so let them go
d) thank God that you are relieved of the responsibility of ministering to them
e) go find them, love them, and walk with them
i have never been involved in a ministry that did letter "e". why is that? surely this must be important otherwise we wouldn't have the parable of the lady searching the entire house for one mite. i'm not sure how much a mite translates to in today's economy, but a person must be more valuable than that coin. and how about the parable of the lost sheep. the shepherd left the 99 in search for the 1. i'm open to the idea that maybe that one had a better offer from another shepherd...you know the grass is always greener in another pasture...but still the shepherd should go find out what the real story is. you don't just ignore the one or it becomes two, and then 20, and then you wake up and you are no longer a shepherd. this being the case i would question if that person was ever a shepherd to begin with.
the teachings of jesus are there for a reason. how can we reach out to the lost if we can't even reach out to each other?
