Consider Your Losses

In chapter one of the prophecy of Haggai, two times in verses five and seven, the prophet delivered a message from God to the people for them to "Consider your ways!" Some of the exiles had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. Rather than rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians, they were emersed in their own interest and projects. They were busy building their own houses and neglecting the rebuilding of the temple. Their devotion was focused on their own interests rather than the interests of God. The command for them to consider their ways was a call for them to assess the course of their lives and to examine their priorities.

We would do well to consider our ways today, but this blog will address another need. Today we need to consider our losses. It easy to count your assets and brag about your successes. Success is clearly superior to failure and is the logical aim of all life's goals and endeavors. At the same time, there is great value in considering your losses. Why did I incur loss? What could I have done differently that would have prevented the loss?

It is easy to rationalize or discount our loses. Comments such as "It was his fault not mine," "I didn't really want it," "So what, I will recoup my loses," can be rationalizations. These reactions may soften the blow of loss, but they will not benefit us in the future.

The motivation for this blog came to me a couple of weeks ago when I was looking through a pictorial directory of a church. I notice a couple pictured in the directory and thought to myself that the woman in the photo looked a lot like a woman I often saw at the YMCA. She is employed at the Y. About a week later she was working at the front desk when I was on my way out having finished my workout. I stopped and asked her, "Are you Joanne?" She looked surprise by my question and then replied, "Yes I am." I then told her that I had seen her picture in the pictorial directory of the church where I am currently serving as interim pastor. I then proceeded to tell her that I would love to see her in attendance. She then replied, "Yes we are members, but we stopped attending about two years ago." She then told me the name of the church where she and her husband are now attending.

After I left the Y, I felt a real sadness come over me. Do churches ever consider their losses when their members choose to go to other churches? Do they dish out criticism towards the people that choose to leave? Do they feel a real sense of loss and consider what they may have done to precipitate the loss?

Having been an interim pastor for 14 years, I have seen more than one situation where large numbers of people have chosen to leave a church to attend another church or sadly in some cases become church dropouts. This is real loss and I suspect that it is sometimes avoidable loss. As has often been said, no one is perfect, and this applies to all churches. Because we never reach or even come close to being perfect, it does not follow that we should be callous or indifferent about our losses.

Loss is an inherit danger in life. We sometimes lose things and are not sure how we lost them. If it is a credit card, we scramble to contact the credit card company and cancel the card before we suffer greater loss. In investment we work hard to make wise choices and hope for gains. If we do experience losses, we strategize on how we can recoup the loss and ensure future gains.

If we consider our losses before they become losses, we may avert loss. If you consider the loss of physical health before it occurs, there may be lifestyle choices or changes that you can make to avoid the loss of health. Things such as drug and alcohol addiction are always preceded by choices. Sadly, many people have lost their lives as a result of drug and alcohol addiction. I am not being judgmental when I say that these are avoidable losses.

The greatest losses are those that come as the result of sin. Adam and Eve lost the bliss and perfection of the Garden of Eden because they listened to Satan. They lost so much including perfect fellowship with God and eventually their lives. We make the same mistake because of the inherited sinful nature that we received from Adam.

Despite the enormity of our lost because of our sinful, fallen nature, God in His love and grace provided hope. Our hope is not in regaining what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Our hope is in the redemptive provisions that God that God promised when the said that the seed of the woman which is Jesus would crush the seed of the serpent. God redeems losses, including the loss of innocence.

Jesus warned that the potential loss of a person's soul is the greatest possible loss we will ever face in life. "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul" (Matthew 16:26)? Because of God's amazing grace, abundant mercy and indescribable love, this is a loss that no has to suffer. God provided an alternative to this catastrophic loss by so loving the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

It has been said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. I think failure to consider our losses is a factor in doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Consider your losses!