“But I have all the gold . . . ”

“I know lots of people who get along just fine without that.”

This was said in a conversation with someone about faith in the Lord. She scorns it and thinks that being a Christian has no value. In her mind, others are happy and prosperous, so who needs faith and a relationship with Jesus Christ?

The religious people of Jesus’ day had a similar attitude. In their minds, faith in Him was not necessary. They were doing just fine without it. He said to them:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which 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 neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7)

This illustration didn’t change their minds, but it does give me insight into what delights the heart of God. He rejoices when sinners repent. He also rejoices when people realize that they need to repent because they are lost.

In the Bible, being lost can mean something that has wandered away from home, like a sheep, or it can be about a possession that has been misplaced. However, Jesus uses it here to also describe those who are spiritually lost. This means they are in an unregenerate and sinful state, spiritually dead and deprived of the presence of God. Worse yet, many are lost and don’t realize it.

The Greek word is apollumi, also translated as perish, destroy, lose, and be lost. It can indicate to destroy, to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin, to render useless, to kill, to declare that one must be put to death. This word is sometimes used metaphorically to say someone is devoted to or given over to eternal misery in hell. In other words, being lost is a very serious condition.

If that were not bad enough, that word apollumi is right close in the Greek dictionary to Apolluon or Apollyon, the name of “the angel of the bottomless pit, the Destroyer.” Those sheep who wander around lost might think they are getting along just fine, but they do not realize how close they are to the one who wants to totally destroy them.

Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). Instead of deception and destruction He offers life. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Those who are lost do not understand or do not want what He offers. They think they are “just fine.”

Whatever “just fine” means to them, without Jesus, sinners are separated from God, lost from Him. Unless they have His gift of eternal life, whatever they do have (such as a good life, lots of friends, or money) has no power to save them from the destruction Apollyon has in mind.

There is a museum in Deadwood, South Dakota that displays an inscription that sums up this sad and deceptive attitude of “getting along just fine.” It was left by a besieged prospector who wrote, “I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I can carry.”