This is the message that became the mission statement of Paris Church of the Nazarene. On the very Wednesday after this sermon was preached, the church board officially adopted it as the church's guiding call:

Drawing from Luke 19 and the story of Zacchaeus, Pastor Curtis Hight challenges every believer to examine a hard question: are you a seeker, or are you a disciple? And if you're a disciple — are you actually going out and sharing hope, or are you waiting for the lost to find their way to you?

Because Jesus didn't wait. He went out. And his mission is now ours.

Pastor Curtis points out that 2,000 years ago, there were two types of people who followed Jesus around — and not much has changed today.

Pastor Curtis notes that even Google draws a distinction. When he searched the difference between a Christian and a disciple, the results were telling. A disciple commits to a lifelong journey of learning, builds community, and lives out the values of their mentor daily. But a Christian? The world's definition had shrunk to attending church sometimes, praying sometimes, and believing most of what the Bible says — unless it's inconvenient.

Pastor Curtis"Too many people call themselves Christians and they're more like the seekers from 2,000 years ago than they are like the disciples."

Of all the people in Jericho that day, Jesus stopped for one man — a short, wealthy, despised tax collector who had climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of him.

Luke 19:5–6"When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly."

The religious people muttered. He has gone to be the guest of a sinner. But Pastor Curtis makes a key distinction that most people miss: Zacchaeus wasn't a seeker. He was a searcher.

Seekers showed up to see what Jesus could do. Searchers showed up because they knew they needed something that only Jesus could give. Zacchaeus had heard enough about Jesus that something inside him was stirring. He didn't just hang out in the crowd — he climbed a tree. He made himself ridiculous to get a better look. That's not curiosity. That's a heart that's searching.

And when Jesus came by and invited himself over, Zacchaeus didn't hesitate. By the end of that meal, he had pledged half his possessions to the poor and promised to repay anyone he had cheated four times over. His life was changed forever.

That's when Jesus announced:

Luke 19:10"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Jesus wasn't waiting in a synagogue for people to find him. He went out. He sought Zacchaeus. He saved the lost. And now that mission belongs to us.

Pastor Curtis shares a remarkable historical fact: from 33 AD to 360 AD, the early church grew by 50% every year. A group of 120 people in an upper room on the day of Pentecost became over 30 million believers — more than half the Roman Empire — within three centuries.

They had no phones. No internet. No television. No marketing budget. They had one thing:

Pastor Curtis makes the distinction clear between Jesus's mission and ours. Jesus came to seek and to save. Our job is to seek and to share hope — because only Jesus can do the saving. We plant the seed. He grows it. We go out. He brings in.

Pastor Curtis"If we do our part, he'll do his part. Because he's the only one who can save. And if they come here, that's just icing on the cake."

He also challenges the congregation with a sobering observation: the Muslim faith is growing faster than Christianity in many parts of the world. Not because they have better answers — but because devoted Muslims pray five times a day and are deeply committed to their faith in daily, practical ways. The problem isn't that the world isn't interested. The problem is that too many Christians have stopped at the word Christian and haven't committed to being a disciple of Jesus.

Pastor Curtis"Don't just call yourself a Christian. Let's be Christian disciples. Disciples of Jesus. Let's let his mission be our mission — today and every day of our lives."

Pastor Curtis closes with a reality check that is both honest and hopeful. Times have changed. Fifty years ago, someone might walk through the doors of a church because they needed something and thought maybe they'd find it there. That doesn't happen much anymore. Society has changed. The church is now one of the last places people go looking for help.

We can spend all day analyzing why that happened. Or we can decide who we're going to be right now — and go out.

Pastor Curtis"There are lost people outside these doors that need this church to be Jesus to them. And when I say church, I'm actually referring to you — because you are the church."

He reminds the congregation that Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy-two with essentially the same instruction: go and proclaim. He didn't give them a script. He didn't outline a strategy. He sent them out because the how was already in them — it was their personal story of how Jesus had changed their lives.

People today are suspicious of religion. But they're also still searching. They know something is missing. They're looking for what's real.

The first part of the mission is easy — in a few minutes, everyone in that room is going to walk out the door. It's the second part that trips people up. But sharing hope with people who have no hope at all should be one of the most natural, fulfilling things we ever do.

Go out. Share hope. That's the whole mission.