THE NEEDS OF THE MANY

FACETIME Session 2

“THE NEEDS OF THE MANY OUTWEIGH THE NEEDS OF THE FEW OR THE ONE”

VIDEO "Search for Spock

Who are the many? The multitude, the crowd, the people...

Jesus said they were weary, scattered (lost) and without a shepherd (vulnerable).

The NT word is hoi polloi.  It has a negative or derogatory connotation signifying the common people, the working class, the commoners, the masses. English synonyms include the great unwashed, the rabble, the dregs of society, riffraff, peons, outcasts, across the tracks, bums, thugs, takers and many others I am ashamed to even mention. A common synonym in the Greek is tax collector, publican or sinner, as used in Luke 15.

Luke 15:1–2 (NKJV) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives (welcomes) sinners and eats with them.”

Notice that Jesus drew sinners and this was criticized by the religious crowd.

Luke 15 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. It contains three parables about things being lost: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost (prodigal) sons.

These “Parables of Lost Things” have two common threads: the main characters in the stories left those already in the house to go after those who were lost!  When they found what was lost there was a party, on earth and in heaven!

Who are these lost ones?

1. They are the ones for whom Jesus died!

Romans‬ ‭5:19‬ ‭NASB‬‬ For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.‬‬‬‬

2. They are the ones we are called to serve!

1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:19-23‬ ‭MSG‬‬ Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!‬‬‬‬

Romans‬ ‭1:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.‬‬‬‬

3. They were Jesus’ friends!

Luke 7:34 (NKJV) The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Research: The longer a person is saved, the fewer lost friends he has. By the time a person has been a Christian for five years, he no longer has any lost friends.

This has to change. One pastor says his church is divided into thirds: the mature, the babies, the hell-bouncers!

Let’s talk some inventory.

Do I lay down my life for those for whom Jesus died?

Do I serve the lost out of a feeling of debt?

Do I have lost friends?