Yesterday morning I was thinking about the church and its attitude towards sin and sinners. I think it is a fair statement to say that the church is often better known for its judgment of sin and sinners than it is for its loving and welcoming of all. I was thinking about how Jesus was often surrounded by what the authors of the Gospels called sinners. They described how Jesus' actions were called into question by the religious leaders of the time. Here are a couple of verses from Mark that are a good example - Mark 2:13-17 NIV:
[13] "Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. [14] As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him."
[15] "While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. [16] When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
[17] "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I love the heart of Jesus towards those who were considered sinners. Notice that He says He has come to call sinners, not the righteous! What an incredible statement that the church would be wise to take to heart, and consider how to reflect this in our mission. In fact, if you go back to the beginning of this little story, Jesus calls Levi to follow Him directly from his position as one of the chief sinners, as tax collectors were considered traitors since they worked for the Romans and certainly were not practicing Jews. It is widely believed that Levi (Hebrew name) is indeed Matthew (Greek name) the Apostle. In fact in Matthew's Gospel, he actually replaces the name Levi with Matthew in this same story (Matt 9:9-13).
I had read this many times before, but yesterday it just kind of grabbed me. Matthew went from being completely lost, a complete sinner, to one of Jesus' closest companions in a very short period of time. One wonders how many apostles the church has missed because they were at present sinners and just not welcome. Going back to the verses, notice that the invitation wasn't to clean up his (Matthew's) life, but rather it was an invitation to relationship.
When the church leads with judgment of sin and sinners, we are saying the opposite of what Jesus said and demonstrated here. We (the church) are saying to the sinner that they must clean up their life before they can have relationship with us or Jesus. It is no wonder that so many people don't want to go to church where they will be judged and required to change. I just don't see Jesus leading with that message.
Taking this reflection further, since Jesus hadn't already come and offered the sacrifice that bought us all forgiveness for our sins and salvation for our souls, every single person that Jesus called to be His disciple and apostle was a sinner! I think we (the church) can get so caught up with being "holy" or "sanctified" that we forget that we were all called when we were sinners. In fact, the great commission is to go to all nations and make disciples, just like Jesus did, going to sinners bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good News is that God came to earth and is still present with us through His Holy Spirit, and that He came to have relationship with us. It is through relationship with Jesus that our lives are changed, but only after we have relationship with Him. Paul says we literally become a new creation when we are saved by faith in Jesus, not before.
For much of the church, it seems like the goal it to build these nice safe havens where we are only surrounded by others like us, others who will help us become holy and sanctified. We are afraid of the influences of the world, that we might be tainted or marred with sin. Jesus said that the gates of hell would not be able to overpower the church (Matt 16:18), not the other way around. The Kingdom of God is advancing, and to advance it must overcome the kingdom of this world. We are called to be a light, to overcome darkness and we can't do that if the only light that gets out to world is from the windows of our churches. What is this light that we are to be known for, this light that overcomes the darkness? It is our love (John 13:35) and it is the Lord present in our midst (John 8:12)! It is not our judgment of sin and sinner.
I am reminded of a few verses from John's first letter - 1 John 2:3-10 NIV:
[3] "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. [4] Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
[7] Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. [8] Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
[9] Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. [10] Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble."
Here John equates loving our brother and sister with living in the light. He says that we must live like Jesus did (verse 6) , loving everyone, even the sinners.
Today I am encouraged to reflect on my heart towards sinners, towards those that are lost and clearly not following the Lord. His heart is for these people! He said He came for these very people, so how am I to represent Him to those I meet? Clearly with a demonstration of love, not judgment! Help me Lord to overcome any fear on my behalf.
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