Tax Collectors and Sinners

Good Morning,

Luke 15:1-2 (NIV)
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Let me ask you something. If you were seeking to do the work that all Christians are called to do...that would be to preach the good news and Jesus' Gospel message...who, exactly, would you want around you to listen? Wouldn't it seem logical that if you were to be seeking the lost to expose them to the Gospel, that you'd be AMONG the lost? So, taken the next step, wouldn't that mean you'd have to be associating with "the tax collectors and 'sinners'" in order to have your words heard by the right people? I guess the up to date answer to this would be, "Duh! Yeah! How else would they hear it?!"

But, too many of us are much like the Pharisees and teachers of Jesus' day. We avoid those "kinds" of people like the plague! Oh, we put up billboards that speak of the Gospel and we take out ads in newspapers and on the Internet to get people to come to our local congregations. But, oh, God forbid that we might be seen in the company of sinners and others considered the dregs of society...those people who MOST need to hear the message we've been charged to bring.

Then, again much like those Pharisee types of Jesus' time, we even sometimes look down on people who DO go out and try to bring the message to where it is needed. "How in the world can he (she) associate with those people?" we hear. "I would never go down there like her (him), that's for sure," we say.

So, something to think about today...If we don't go to the sinners, how will they hear the message?

You know, they AREN'T beating down the doors of our church houses, that's for sure. Yes, we are pretty good at getting believers to come into our churches to hear the message that they already know. But, well, we're NOT so pretty good at actually having the Gospel heard by those who DON'T KNOW the message we have.

Maybe we ought to change some of our practices and basic beliefs? You think?

Love, peace, and blessings,

David