Luke 14:22-23
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Something has to drive you to be a believer who reaches the multitudes for Christ. I do not want to be a believer that goes through life and has never led one person to Christ, or just a few people to Christ. It is sad when most believers cannot point to one person they have led to Christ. It is even a sadder day when many pastors rarely lead someone to Christ. The reason believers live this way is because they have nothing that drives them to reach the lost for Christ.
One of the things that drives me to reach the lost is that there is still room to be filled in our church auditorium. It is obvious that Jesus did not like empty seats. He teaches the parable of the Great Supper, and one thing that jumps out is that the servant still found room to be filled. When the lord of the house saw there was still room, he sent out his servants again to find people to come so that his house may be filled.
Letting empty seats drive you will help you to be more passionate for the Lord. To see empty seats in your church auditorium and it not bother you is what leads to apathy. When you get comfortable with empty seats in your church auditorium is when you get comfortable with people going to Hell. A drive to fill every seat will produce several things in your life.
First, it will give you a great vision for God. Empty seats mean there are still souls you need to reach. There is still one soul to reach as long as you have one seat that still needs to be filled in your church auditorium. A drive to fill your church auditorium will drive you to have a greater vision for reaching the lost.
Second, a drive to fill your church auditorium will push you when you don't feel like going. When empty seats bother you, it will push you to follow up on those who miss church, and it will push you to continue reaching the lost. When I look at the empty seats in our church auditorium, I see people who should have been in church, and I see a seat that someone who is lost could fill if I go and witness to the lost.
Third, a drive to fill your church auditorium creates an urgency to reach the lost. The lord in this parable had an urgency for the servants to reach the lost. He said, Go out quickly. This lord knew the time was short, and his servants needed to have an urgency to fill those seats. You will find yourself having a passion for reaching people if you let empty seats drive you. Those empty seats tell you that we don't have much time to reach people with the Gospel before they die or before the Lord returns. There should be an urgency in your heart that you must quickly reach as many people as you can so that they don’t spend an eternity in Hell.
Fourth, a drive to fill your church auditorium will cause you to reach anyone who will come to fill that seat. When you have a drive to fill your auditorium, your reach for people will go beyond looking for a certain type of people to reaching any person who will come. Don't worry about what your people look like to everyone else, but get a drive to reach anyone who will come. The Gospel is for everyone, so anyone who will come is a candidate for the Gospel to change their life.