Is it possible to be lost in the midst of an active church? In the life of an active, evangelistic and growing church, can peopleeven leadersbe lost? The answer is, Yes! But lets define lost and see what we can do in our church to avoid such a condition.

First, by lost we mean unsaved.  Our approach to evangelism may contribute to this. We may give assurance of salvation to individuals when, in fact, it is the Holy Spirit alone Who does this. When He does, the evidence of His presence and the presence of the Living Christ will be obvious to all. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are Children of God (Romans 8:13-17). Because the eternal destiny of each person is at stake, we must learn to take this very seriously.

Another concern is that of our children who have grown up in a Christian home and in the church.  They can give all the right and expected answers without a real and personal and saving relationship with Jesus Christ. They may be baptized, faithful and activebut still lost. 

Every parent must take the eternal welfare of their children very seriously. Talk with them. Watch for the evidence that they are walking in the Spirit. Watch their conversations. Take seriously their choices, whether Christ-honoring or worldly and self-serving. Watch who they choose as friends. Open your home to their friends, and participate with them, always listening for signs of their clear relationship with Christ as described in 1 John. Read these verses carefully to see what God says are the indicators of a person who is saved.  This is eternally serious!

Finally, since the term lost can refer to those in the church who are just there but not growing in the Lord nor even giving evidence that they know the Lord in an intimate and vital way, how do our churches help move such individuals into a proper relationship with Christ?

Having been a pastor for more than 30 years myself, I knew, like the apostle Paul, that I would be accountable to God for every one of them under my watchcare as a shepherd! Like Paul, I wanted to be able to say, I am innocent of the blood of all men (Acts 20:26). Paul, no dou bt, remembered Gods warning to Ezekiel: so you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me [and] if you do not speak to warn[their] blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 33:7-8).

Therefore, I did several things with our church family:

• I taught from scripture to every Sunday school teacher that they were to be good stewards of every class member, aware of whether each and every member was both saved and growing in the Lord.

• I instructed every committee chairperson that his or her first responsibility was to ensure that every member of the committee was saved and growing.

• I taught every deacon to, likewise, ensure that every person under his spiritual watchcare was saved and showing evidence of spiritual growth.

• Every staff member was to know each church member as intimately as possible, for Gods instruction to Ezekiel was for them as well.

• I constantly alerted and taught the entire congregation how to give real spiritual watchcare over their fellow believers, for the eternal welfare of us all was at stake. They listened and did this for each other. Apart from those who moved away from the city, we did not lose one member. God was gracious to both teach us and enable us to obey Him; hence, ensuring that none were lost.

In this day, when the culture around us is deeply affecting how we relate to one another, its so important that we teach and train the members of our churches to give spiritual watchcare over each other, including those who are just attending. This affects, and may very well determine, the eternal destiny of every member.

The author of Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby is president of Henry Blackaby Ministries. Visit www.henryblackaby.com for more information. Bible references are from The New King James Version.