Jesus is a figure like no other in history. People today either loath him or love him. The same was true in the day of Jesus. The biggest followers of Jesus were then considered the dregs of society: the prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners. The sinners were basically anyone not of Jewish descent, like the Gentiles and Samaritans. Even though the Samaritans were part Jewish, that was not good enough for the religious leaders. The sinners were also those who didn't measure up the the Pharisees moral code. The hatred of the religious leaders for the sinners was extreme. The Pharisees had perfected class warfare and division. Jesus knew the hearts of the Pharisees and everyone else. What is interesting about Jesus, is that, the ones who should have welcomed him (the religious leaders) by and large had rejected him. The vast majority of people that followed Jesus were the disenfranchised of society.
The divide can be seen from an opening statement of Luke 15 - "All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”" Jesus goes on to explain two parables, one involving a lost sheep and the other involving a lost coin. In both stories, Jesus emphasizes the passion and joy of those who found what they were looking for. In both stories they had many other sheep and coins, but they were consumed with the lost one. Jesus then goes on to explain the story of, "The Prodigal Son." Notice the compassion and love of the father for the prodigal son, "While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)"" Clearly the father's heart was set on his prodigal son as he expectantly waited for him to show up.
In these stories, Jesus is sharing God's heart for humanity. Jesus was focused on the lost of society (see Mark 2:17). One of the major reasons Jesus was so popular among the outcast of society, had to do with the compassion and love Jesus had for them. Jesus sharpest criticism came for the religious leaders, but the compassion and love was given to the sinners and tax collectors. For this reason, when Jesus came to Jerusalem for the last time, the Pharisees stated, "The whole world is following him! (John 12:19)"
Today is not much different than the past. God's people are too quick to attack others who don't seem to measure up morally. It's no wonder that many are afraid to step foot inside a church building fearing they will be judged unworthy. Too many times the Church has become too passionate about our politics and moral laws and have forgotten to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. Our passion needs to be for all people, with the love of God. In this way, God's light is able to shine all the brighter in a dark and dimming world. Shining God's light does not exempt sin (see John 8:10-11). God needs His people to shine light on the evils of society and to be involved in promoting His ways. A passion of moral outrage will rarely affect an individual's heart, but the compassion and love of God for others will often make Jesus popular.
[1] Bile passages for this blog come from the Common English Bible
Which immediately brings to mind this question, "Why doesn't American Christianity focus upon and embrace the dregs?"
ReplyDeleteAnd this observation...
We have built most of the community churches to be buildings that are locked throughout the week unless there is staff that can be there while they are open. They are filled with "precious things" and are no longer open sanctuaries for the poor and needy. Our church is used for perhaps six total hours per week on the average. Yet it is heated and maintained for no one during the week. It has bathrooms, a beautiful functional kitchen, a dining room that can serve about eighty people at a time. My church that I attended previously also had the same and so did the one prior to those two. My church that I attended for eighteen years, one of the larger ones in Moses Lake, has a stunning kitchen facility and a giant room that can service a couple of hundred people at a time.
Yet we had to struggle to find a place for the homeless and the smelly within our community.
Has Christianity lost its way within our community?