Do you love the lost—those who are without Christ, without hope and under the judgement of God? We Australians are comfortably concerned about ourselves. We love work, home, coffee and perhaps a good gym routine. This is true of Christians too. There are a lot of things we’re more concerned about than our lost neighbour. We don’t share the gospel with urgency or vigour because we’re content, comfortable and generally unwilling to take risks for Jesus.
In a recent article, I looked at how the glory of Jesus motivated us for evangelism. In this article I turn to consider love for the lost to whom we speak.
Jesus Loved the Lost
In Mark chapter 10, a rich young man comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Mark tells us that “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mk 10:17–21a). And then Jesus says, “You’re a nice guy, you’ll be right.” No, that’s not how it goes. Jesus says, “One thing you lack, Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (verse 21). Jesus loved the rich young man enough to tell him what he needed to hear most—that he wasn’t in the kingdom because he loved money more.
Jesus was willing and able to do much more than have an awkward conversation. He suffered and died for that man and for lost people across the world. He “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (verse 45). Unjustly condemned to death, he cried out, “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Jesus loved the lost. Jesus suffered for the lost.
The Apostle Paul Loved the Lost
In 2 Timothy 2, Paul is writing to Timothy, a ministry leader, exhorting him in verse 3: “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” To do this, Timothy needs to “Remember Jesus Christ” (verse 8). Forgetting is easy. Remembering is hard. If the command had been to forget, most of us would nail it. God’s people forget God, time and again. If we let Jesus move to the back of our minds, we easily embrace apathy and comfort. We need to remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead and Lord of all. If we forget him, our love for the lost will be like a campfire that has no fuel, it will dwindle and go out.
Paul remembered Jesus Christ and was willing to do whatever it took to preach him. That is why Paul is chained, likely in a Roman prison on death row, because he kept telling people about Jesus, confident that God’s word is not chained (verse 9). In verse 10 he writes: “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” Paul, like his Saviour before him, is willing to suffer and even die, to share the good news of the kingdom so that the lost will hear it and be saved.
Here is the truth: the lost need to know Christ. Parents at school, kids at sport, those on social media, gym buddies and the career-driven neighbour need nothing more than they need Jesus. Without the gospel, because of sin, those people are under the judgement of God. Do you love them enough to share the gospel with them? Even if that may involve suffering?
Do We Love the Lost?
If we look upon people with apathy and are focused on ourselves in this present life so much that we’re rarely or never sharing gospel, we need to remember Jesus and his death and resurrection. We need to spend time asking God to shape our hearts so that it is like his heart, so that we will love our neighbour, so that we will have the compassion and love that Jesus has.
Only when Jesus’ love for us transforms and fills our hearts will we love the lost. Then we’ll be much more willing to ask our friends, neighbours, even strangers what they think about Jesus. We’ll actually want to give our time and energy to evangelism activities. We’ll take time out to get trained on sharing the gospel. We’ll be willing to be called a fanatic, a hypocrite or a bigot for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of the lost.
This article has been adapted from material given at the Perth Gospel Fellowship conference 2025.
