Imagine This
So, you are a lifeguard. It is your summer job (in any summer other than this one). On any day there are 100 people in the pool. Every person in the pool matters to you. You keep a constant watch over all them. Then, suddenly, there is screaming. One of those 100 people has gone under and not come up. They are drowning.
Question for you: In that moment, does that person matter most of all?
Answer: Of course! It’s a no-brainer. That person matters most of all for you at that moment of their great need. And probably, that person matters most for all the others who are aware that a drowning is happening right in front of them.
Missional Mandate of Jesus
Jesus talked about this in Matthew 18:12-14, in the parable of the lost sheep. Read those verses. It is striking. One hundred sheep. One gets lost. The 99 are safe. And for the Good Shepherd, that one lost sheep MATTERS MOST OF ALL. When that sheep is rescued, Jesus says HE rejoices more over that one lost sheep than the 99 that were safe and secure.
This is priority, this …