Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together.
Well I’ve got a sports one for you guys again today, but you’ve got to give me a little bit of a break, my life has been pretty monotonous over the past week as we’re just now getting back into the swing of things. At any rate, for those of you who might not know me well or are new to the podcast, I am an avid Oregon Ducks fan – particularly college football. The past week has been rather topsy-turvy for Oregon Duck fans, and allow me to give us some background to set the stage for you. College Football has changed drastically over the past year given new rules to something called the “transfer portal”. The transfer portal is a platform that allows players to transfer from one school to another with maximum visibility, organization & compliance. Given new rules stating that student athletes can profit from NIL (which is name, imagine, and likeness) – essentially schools with deep pockets and donors can almost hire out college athletes who have entered the transfer portal to come to their school. Given the combination of these changes, players are jumping ship right and left from one school to another – everyone has been affected, including the Ducks. In particular it has been our running backs that we have had the most fluctuation with this past week. To begin with, one of our running backs named Seven McGee announced he was entering the transfer portal. Then Sean Dollars followed suit. Then Trey Benson. Finally, our star running back Travis Dye just shocked the entire team by stating he was entering the transfer portal for his senior year. Duck fans were left stunned and found themselves suddenly very shallow at running back depth. That was until our new head coach Dan Lanning stepped in. Dan has been wearing two hats over the past month having been hired as the Ducks new head coach while also retaining his position as Georgia’s defensive coordinator through the end of the year. Georgia went on the win the national championship on Monday, and now Dan has turned his attention fully to the Ducks. Well, one of the things that has had people excited about Dan is his ability to recruit players in the past. All Duck fans are anxiously awaiting to see what kind of athletes he can convince to come play for him in Eugene. But over the past week, what has been impressive to watch was not the attention he has given to going to get new players, but retaining the ones that have said they are leaving. Within a matter of just a few hours of their announcements, Dan got on the phone and spent time visiting with these players as they announced their intent to leave. One by one, they started to come back. First Seven McGee announced after talking with coach Lanning that he would return to Oregon. Then not long after that, Sean Dollars announced the same that he is returning to the University to play for the Ducks. Finally, while nothing is set in stone yet, apparently our star running back Travis Dye has opened up the possibility of withdrawing his name from the transfer portal as well, which would be huge for us. Already, I love our new head coach, and it’s for a very specific reason. His first priority has not been to simply go out and find new talent, but rather go get back the talent that was already there and wanted to leave. He is building bridges and mending relationships right before our eyes. While many different people’s response would be something like, “If you want to leave then leave, and good riddance” – that has not been the attitude of our new head coach. He’s treating the team like a family, as though he was it’s head, and he’s keeping the family together by going after the ones that have walked away.
Again, we’re not here to talk about sports, but we are here to talk about a similar scenario that is much more important. When we talk about saving the lost, what do we normally think about? I would venture to say that we more than likely think about what I would refer to as the equivalent to “recruiting” – it’s going out and bringing into Christ those who have never known the truth before. And obviously, this is one of our most important tasks as Christians, in fact we read in what is commonly referred to as the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28: 18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” However, this is not the only thing that God has called us to do as a church. In fact, when we open up the Scriptures, what we see as first priority to God is for his church to go out and bring back those who have wandered away from him. Let’s consider a few passages together. The first is found in Luke 15:3-7, “So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” What a powerful parable that is told to us here by Jesus. God leaves the 99 to go after the 1. The one that wandered off was not just forgotten or left to wander, but the Shepherd loved it and would not stop until he brought it home. Well, we are the sheep, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The one who wanders is priority for God to bring back home. Consider finally James 5:19-20, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” After having read this, let me ask you, how important is it to God that we go after the one who walks away from the faith and bring them back to us? And yet far too often rather than doing all we can to bring back someone who wanders from the truth, we forget all about them. We essentially say, “good riddance” and that’s the end of it. I don’t intend to be harsh, but I’m trying to get us to see the seriousness with which God intends for us to take this. When is the last time you prayed for someone who wandered away from the truth? When is the last time you called them or wrote them, or did something for them to know you were thinking of them and reached out to tell them they are deeply missed here in this family? My friends, we have a lot of work to do. There are many that have entered the “transfer portal” so to speak and made it clear they don’t want to be associated with Christ anymore. So, what are we going to do? Are we going to merely be content with their leaving? Or are we going to do everything within our power to bring them back? It is my prayer that the lost may be found again, but that can’t happen without you. Let’s go get them back together, just like a family should.
Thank you for tuning in to today’s episode, and I would invite you back Tuesdays-Fridays for a brand-new episode each day. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.