All people need to engage lostness, Ford says

Engaging the lost is an essential part of the example Christ set and something of which Alabama Baptists must actively be a part, Shannon Ford told state convention messengers attending the annual meeting Nov. 17.

Ford, a Southern Baptist representative and International Mission Board cluster strategy leader for Ukraine, said it may start with finding one’s purpose through prayer. And noting the decadelong God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) evangelism strategy, he said being “engaged” in reaching the lost is crucial.

Preaching from Mark 1:35–39, he said, “When we think of the theme of [GPS] and we try to envision that sense of engaging, we have no where else to look but Scripture to find out exactly what that means. For our Lord Jesus Christ … [it] was all about engaging the people around Him with the message of the kingdom of God.”

So many times church members go to pastors and other church leaders seeking guidance, he said.

“They need to be engaged in reaching the lostness and they seek our guidance, as leaders of Christ’s Church, to help them better do that,” Ford said. “If we (as missionaries) engage the lostness, that’s wonderful … but its a drop in the bucket compared to what all believers can be doing when they engage in the Great Commission.”

Ford shared stories of two Ukrainian believers who experienced what it means to engage the lost — Yulia, through serving as a Ukrainian ambassador at Alabama’s WorldSong Missions Place in Cook Springs, and Petro, through church planting in his Ukrainian city of 250,000.

In a country where less than 2 percent of the population are evangelical Christians, Petro was faithful to the call God had given him to “be engaging the lostness of his area.” And God has blessed his obedience and the church has grown, Ford explained.

“But what about us?” he challenged messengers. “Do our hearts resonate with love for a lost people? Do we truly desire to engage lostness? I know the answer is ‘yes.’ It is a resounding ‘yes.’

“Yet right across the street over here, right down the block, down the interstate, there are still people who need to hear the gospel. So we will preach it, yes, we will. Just like Jesus said, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the town nearby in order that I may preach there also for that is what I have come out for.’” (TAB)