Once upon a time I titled something I wrote, “There Are No Lost People.” Underneath that title, I proceeded to described lost people as innocent children alone in the woods with no way of getting out. So…my opening paragraph contradicted my title. This was reckless and irresponsible. I apologize to anyone I have offended or confused.

Then, to make things worse, I cited the book of Romans where we’re told that God has revealed Himself to everyone and interpreted that to mean that God has revealed himself to everyone! Therefore (I reasoned) the people who say they don’t have enough evidence to believe in God, are lying (which Romans calls, ‘suppressing the truth’). I then suggested that ‘prodigal’ is a better way to describe the pagans than calling them, ‘lost people,’ and THAT displayed a complete lack of regard for the broader definition of ‘lost.’

I totally ignored the fact that ‘lost’ can sometimes be understood as ‘separated from.’ People who reject God and separate themselves from Him are ‘lost.’ The bible describes the prodigal himself as ‘lost.’ It’s right there in red letters! I literally contradicted Jesus when I said there are no lost people! Again, I apologize for being so careless.

The title was my first mistake. It wasn’t clear enough. I could have prevented the debacle by simply clarifying my thesis with the title: “There Are Some People Who Are Lost If We Take That Word To Mean Separated From God Or In Rebellion Against God Or Outside Of The Kingdom of God But This Article Is About The Fact That God Is Revealed In Creation As We’re Told In The Book Of Romans So Anyone Who Claims They Don’t Know God Exists Is Not Lost In The Same Way A Child Is Lost In The Woods But Actually More Like A Prodigal Who Is Intentionally Distancing Himself From His Father And Just Pretending They Need Evidence From Christians Before They Admit To Believing What God Has Already Made Plain To Them.”

It’s very difficult to say every true thing I know all at once. In my haste to share one particular thought, I often ignore a whole bunch of other thoughts. This is a weakness that I don’t confess regularly enough. I appreciate the people who help me keep from deceiving myself. I would be lost without you.

(Galatians 6:3) “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.”