Lost?

Well, if you did not see the season finale and do not want to have it spoiled; stop here! If you have not watched Lost, or saw it last night feel free to read on.

I did not think they would get off the island. It looks like our hero has not had a good time of it since they did. Conversely, one of our heroines has adapted well. Perhaps her past prepared her more for what was to come. Seems he is still lost. He is living with no hope or purpose and that is not worth living for.

As I reflected today I thought, "Everyone needs a reason to live." That sounds like a simple self evident truth, but I wonder how much we go through our days "just living" without a purpose. Not to say every moment has to be a rush, but I wonder if we are called to live above the noise (or silence) of our culture with a purpose that is evident.

What would that look like? I do not think it is "doing" in entirety, although that may be part of it. Doing is what happens because you have a purpose. I think it revolves around learning and being reconciled to your sin nature. On the island, our friends had to constantly grapple with whether or not they should sin. It was clear and they made clear choices. To kill or not kill. To lie or not lie. To go back to help friends at great risk or not. Off of the island it is less clear. Sin is subtle. We can live with the subtleties of our sin nature without being exposed. Pride, arrogance, indifference. We do not have to go and rescue our friends, we do not even have to spend time with them.

The book of Acts shows us that God does not want His people to be lost. As He shows us our sin nature and calls us to have a purpose, he tenderly shows us the love of Christ. Some of us may be on an island where sin is evident, others in the city where the noise of the crowd drowns it out, even though it is there. In either case we do well to know that freedom is found in Christ alone, not in going some place new, not in sex, not in a bottle. In Christ alone, and only as we bare our sinful souls and lose ourselves in Him. WorshipWell