Ministrymaker Magazine

In James 1:1, the author begins his letter by introducing himself as “a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings.” The word for scattered here is diaspora. It means “to sow through.” It was a technical term for those residing outside of Jerusalem. Many Jews, after accepting Jesus, were ostracized by their families, the religious community, society in general and the community in which they lived. “To sow through” has a number of pertinent applications for us today as believers.

Christians reside as aliens

The Jews living outside of Jerusalem were residing as aliens in a foreign land, away from their homeland. We as Christians are away from our homeland as well. Paul told the Philippians their true citizenship was in heaven (Philippians 3:20). This world is not our home. How often do we feel out of place or like we don’t quite fit in or belong? This is because spiritually we are foreigners or aliens in a land in which we do not belong. Our real home or citizenship is in heaven.

Christians are often rejected

These James was referring to had been rejected by their families, religious community to which they had belonged and society in general. We will be rejected and often hated by the world (1 John3:13) and far to often by our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let me encourage you, God has a special place in His heart for outcasts. His heart goes out to you.

Isaiah wrote, “Let my outcast dwell with you, be a shelter from them from the face of the spoiler” (Isaiah 16:5). This is what the church should be for people. Those who have been beat up by the world, the enemy and life need a place of sanctuary. This is God’s design for the church. It is to be a spiritual hospital for the wounded and fallen. Church let’s be that hospital, sanctuary and place of protection for those who come into our our midst beaten and battered. Let’ stop beating up the fallen among us and rather restore and heal them (Galatians 6:1-2). We never know what they may become.

When David was on the run from Saul he hid in the cave of Adullam “and everyone who was in distress, in debt and discontented gathered to him” (1 Samuel 22:1-2). These became his mighty men when he entered his reign as King. God likes taking the most unlikely candidates and raising them up for His glory. Let’s be the agents of restoration and healing to the wounded and fallen, those whose lives may be all messed up. They just might become the mighty among us.

Wayward Christians

The scattered can also refer to those who could be potentially lost from our churches. How many have slipped through the cracks, stopped going to church and no one has gone after them? I would much rather have people complain because we loved them to much, by constantly reaching out to them, then to have them complain that when they stopped going to church no one called or reached out to them.

Jesus in referring to “sinners” or those who have gone astray gives three parables of a lost sheep, lost coin and lost son (Luke 15). In each case the premise was of looking for and going after what was lost until they were found and brought home where they belonged. They weren’t condemned or given a good talking to but simply loved and brought back into the fold where they belonged.

Pastors, we need to begin to keep a close eye out for those that may be missing from our flock. We will one day give an account of our shepherding. This is part of our job as pastors. Remember, the first parable Jesus told was of the shepherd going after the one sheep that was missing. I know we can’t always do everything ourselves, especially as we grow. This is why we need to train our people to help us in this much needed task. Leaders help your pastor in following up on those who are missing from your midst. If someone misses three weeks or more we should be following up on them.

Witnesses for Jesus

We have been sown where we are to be witnesses for the Lord. Jesus said, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). This is emphatic, if we are followers of Jesus He will make us fishers of men, soul winners. If we are not fishing then we inevitably are not following Him.

There is a story I heard long ago that I have used to illustrate this point. This man moved into a new area. He wanted to find the best fishing spots. After asking around he was told by all that he needed to talk to a man named Zeek. Well, he contacted him and they arranged to go fishing together. As they headed toward the boat he began wondering where Zeek’s fishing pole was. They got into the boat and went out into the deep water.

Zeek gets into his bag and quietly pulls out a stick of dynamite, lights it, throws it into the water and begins reaching out and picking up the fish and putting them into his net. The man totally shocked looks at Zeek and says, I guess you didn’t know that I was the new game warden for this area. Zeek doesn’t say a word, calmly gets into his bag, gets another stick of dynamite out, lights it and hands it to the man. He then says, are you going to fish with me or not? This is the question Jesus is posing to us, are we going to fish with Him or not? We have been sown where we are to be His witnesses. Let’s start fishing with Him.