A Letter to the Forgotten Ones

This is a letter to the lost, the forgotten, and the outcasts. I’d love to say, “I see you, I haven’t forgotten you, and I’m out there looking for you.” I mean, one of Disciple Gaming Ministry’s missions is to bring gamers to church so they can have a relationship with God and continue to engage in a hobby and activity they love in a way that brings glory to their Creator.

If I’m completely honest, though, I can’t say, “I see you,” as much as, “I want to see you.” Because I can’t see everyone. I have blind spots, I forget quite a lot, and I’m going to miss most people even though I’m out here looking. But that doesn’t mean you’re forgotten. God sees you, and he’s actively searching for you (that may sound contradictory, but bear with me). In Luke 15:1-71, Jesus told a story about a shepherd that left his flock of 99 sheep to go find the one sheep that got lost.

It might be easy to say, “Well, just one sheep is lost, the other 99 need to be taken care of, right? Focus on the ones that didn’t stray!”

That’s not what Jesus taught, though. He said that the lost sheep was important enough to go rescue. He saw the one that the rest forgot, and he went and got it back. Jesus sees the forgotten ones. Better than I ever could.

Of course, this could lead to a question like, “How do I know Jesus sees me?”

The quick answer is that someone’s looking for you. I’m looking for you, even though I may fail from time to time. I’ve been working with two local churches (and I’m just one man) that are actively reaching out to communities that, historically, have been neglected by Evangelicals. At Disciple Gaming Ministry (DGM), we’re working with gamers, and these two churches know just how important they are. Not because they may bring something to the church, but because Jesus said that a good shepherd will search for the lost.

I write this letter to let you know that, even though you may feel forgotten, someone is looking for you. But you may need to look for them, as well. Maybe you’re in a neighborhood or near a church that doesn’t have the same priorities as DGM or our partner churches. Maybe you need something different from the community because you have a unique situation that makes it challenging to “fit in” with that group of people. You need to know that finding your place, getting retrieved by the shepherd, may require some effort. Jesus sees you, but his servants may need your help in finding you in this big, open world.

There is a community that wants you, and it is led by Jesus. You may feel forgotten, outcast, and lost, but some of us see you. Many more are looking because we know that we’ll all miss a few. But the more of us that go out searching, the more likely we are to find you, especially if you’re looking for us.

You’re not forgotten, not an outcast, and someone is looking for you!

Sources and Notes

1 At Disciple Gaming Ministry, we encourage people to read the Bible using an accurate translation that is also easy to understand. With that being said, the translation we use is the ESV® Bible. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.