JARGONOLOGY: THE LOST

By Elliot Taylor

I have to snigger at ABC’s television drama, Lost, and their inability to take home any significant bling at this year’s Emmy awards.

Aside from being a die-hard supporter of 24 (Jack Bauer is sooo the next MacGyver), I’ve got good reason to dislike the plane crash drama. Lost has got to be the most frustrating television stunt ever and it irritates my eyeballs. What it does do, is make us think about spiritual stuff, like the real lost people and what we should be doing about it.

For Christians, “the lost” is a loaded term. Jesus did have something to say about it, but like most jargon, connotation slowly becomes definition and everyone becomes confused—much like the TV show…

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the lost. It’s biblical. In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories, with the underlying theme of seeking and saving that which was lost. As a whole, the passage paints a picture of how far Jesus would go to pave the way for sinful humanity to be restored to him. In going after the lost sheep, searching for the lost coin, or running to greet the lost son, Jesus seeks out the lost sinner—then he supplies them with boundless grace! And check it, when one sinner repents, heaven has a party (see Luke 15:10).

The lost is a real concept, but we need to be careful as Christians that we don’t polarise humanity, sitting on the inside pointing fingers at those on the out. That is not Christianity; that is segregation. Yes, this world is full of lost people, people not in a relationship with the Creator, but we were just the same. Paul says in Ephesians 5:8, “for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

If we are to reach the lost, we need to stand beside them, be a light beside them, and lead them home. The lost are not a different species; they are our brothers and sisters of humanity.