Who do you know?

Think for a moment about this scripture:

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what He has done?"

If you take a look at our culture, it's unbelievable how many ways we are taught to think about people, situations, success-- you name it-- that run totally against God's heart for our lives. Take how we interact with our friends, family, even those that don't know God, but our in our lives. Too often, we feel that it's not our place to step into their lives, to speak Truth to them, to try to make a difference in their lives when we seem to care more about where their lives are headed than they do. We don't want to offend them. We don't want to lose their friendship. Maybe we just think it's none of our business. But look at the words in these scriptures: "Rescue." "Hold back." These words are words that describe action. These aren't words that say, "Sit back and watch and if they come to their senses, then help them pick up the pieces." I've seen some incredible rescues on TV-- people braving great personal risk to pluck someone out of a stormy ocean or burning building. And we're worried about damaging a friendship? Or someone thinking we're a "Jesus Freak"? Have you ever tried to hold someone back from something? How about just wrestling someone for fun? It takes effort! Recently I was speaking for a high school group, and I invited three of the guys to try and take me to the ground. I put up a good effort, and it was a struggle for them to pull me down (I picked smaller guys-- I'm not crazy!)-- but they eventually did it. And I paid for it the next day! We should know from this scripture that God desires for us to take pains to become involved in the lives of Christians we know that are falling away from God and falling into sin. This isn't about being judgemental. This isn't about poking our nose into someone else's business. It's about really loving someone and really caring about someone enough to realize what this scripture says: They are being led away to death; they are staggering towards slaughter. It's about realizing that God knows what we pay attention to as well as what we ignore. Let's be encouraged to not ignore God's desires.