Born Lost

Christianese is, without question, the most frustrating dialect I have picked up in my 31 years.  It's composed almost entirely of ill-defined words, ethereal concepts, infinite historical context, unpronounceable names, and obscure similes.  But worst of all it's been rendered nearly meaningless by long use, over-use, and casual use.  What does "Judge not lest ye be judged" actually mean anyway?

I was forcibly reminded of this language problem last week when I read Luke 19:10-- "For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."  Due to the ever-present filter of Christianese, the image which swam into my consciousness was of vast, shadowy hoards, coming into focus as they neared me, and looking suspiciously homeless and addicted.  And I was not part of the throng.  But with this idea of being the "sought treasure" of Jesus fresh in my mind, I decided to tackled Christianese head-on and actually look up the word "lost".

adjective
1. no longer possessed or retained
2. no longer to be found
3. having gone astray or missed the way; bewildered as to place, direction, etc.
4. not used to good purpose, as opportunities, time, or labor; wasted
5. being something that someone has failed to win
6. ending in or attended with defeat
7. destroyed or ruined
8. preoccupied; rapt
9. distracted; distraught; desperate; hopeless

That pretty much dispenses with Christianese.  Because suddenly it's personal. Pre-Jesus, I am, you are, the shadowy hoards are no longer possessed or retained by our Father; the devil has tempted us away with empty promises.  Our souls can no longer be found walking the Garden with our Creator in the evening.  We have gone completely astray, missed the way and are bewildered as to where we are, when we are, and what direction we should be taking.  We have not been used to good purpose-- our father the devil employs us to steal, kill and destroy, wasting us on his machinations for there are always plenty more.  For many thousands of years God failed to win us.  Every single one of our lives ended in defeat and was daily attended by defeat.  We were destroyed and ruined on every side. We were preoccupied with ourselves and enraptured with our own survival.  We were the very definition of distracted, distraught, desperate, and hopeless.  

This is what it means to be lost.  And I have been.

But thanks be to God I live post-Jesus.  And I have been found.