(The Steve Green Archives video)
Yes, “People Need the Lord” as much today as they did when this song was produced by Greg Nelson and Phil McHugh in 1984. That will always be a significant year in my life — the year I accepted Christ as Savior and Lord!
The song is not just evangelistic in its presentation but also speaks to the many Christians who profess yet may not closely walk with Jesus as they navigate through life. Many Christians go through the motions, attend church fairly regularly, walk and talk like Christians, but they are not totally committed to the cause of Christ.
Steve Green who presented a beautiful rendition of the song “People Need the Lord” back then has apparently come to a similar conclusion. As a missionary kid, he could relate to the evangelistic message in the lyrics, but also resonated with the message being presented to those who had already made some form of commitment to the Lord as well.
Listen to the first verse of the song: “Every day they pass me by/I can see it in their eyes/Empty people filled with care/Headed who knows where/On they go through private pain/living fear to fear/Laughter hides their silent cries/ Only Jesus hears.”
Christians are not exempt from experiencing emptiness, private pain, fear and silently crying out for help. Many deal with depression and hopelessness.
Yes, quite a few Christian folks need to be healed of afflictions that keep them from truly experiencing the abundant life that Jesus proclaims is available to all who come to Him.
Jesus shares an interesting parable in Matthew 25:14-30. This parable of the talents (monetarily a talent was worth more than a thousand dollars) ends with the talent given to an unfaithful servant being taken away and given to the most faithful of three servants.
Unfaithfulness is a serious situation for those who find themselves in the role of a servant. Servants of our Lord need to be faithful to receive the blessings of their Father in Heaven. They need to keep their eyes fixed on the Lord and what He’s doing in their midst. They cannot be fearful but need to be fearless.
A good waiter will keep his eyes on his tables to ensure that they are being more than adequately served. Proper service will warrant abundant rewards for their faithfulness. I imagine you’ve experienced bad, mediocre, good and excellent service in restaurants and hopefully rewarded the servers accordingly.
Let’s get back to the second verse of the song. The lyrics continue: “We are called to take His light/To a world where wrong seems right/What could be too great a cost/For sharing life with one who’s lost?”
You see the light of Christ can remove the darkness of this world in which we live. Unfortunately, many Christians get bogged down in the darkness and very few seem to be aware of their condition and their need of assistance to get back in the Light of Christ. They are actually lost and we need to be part of the solution to bring these sheep back into the fold.
The lyrics go on “Through His love our hearts can feel/All the grief they bear/They must hear the words of life/Only we can share.”
I’m reminded of a tragic event many years ago in which I had some inkling that a Christian acquaintance was quite depressed and despondent. A week later I read of his suicide in the local newspaper. I’m not sure I could have made a difference, but ever since that experience I’ve taken to heart that God may be putting me in the path of others to make some difference in their life before they take some drastic unnecessary action as this gentleman did.
The lyrics end “When will we realize that we must give our lives? For people need the Lord, People need the Lord.”
We need to be available, but first we need to become strong in our relationship with our Heavenly Father so He can use us to become a beacon for those who have lost sight of Christ. Please join me in this worthy endeavor.
Passages to Ponder
— Jim Langley has been writing for more than 30 years while working as a life and health insurance agent in Santa Barbara. In recent years, his passion has turned to writing about his personal relationship with God, and his goal is to encourage others to draw near to Him as well. As a longtime member of CBMC of Santa Barbara (Christian Business Men’s Connection), he started writing Fourth Quarter Strategies columns in 2014, and he now reaches an international audience through the CBMC International devotional Monday Manna. He can be contacted at jim@fourthquarterstrategies.com for more information. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.