As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees sawit, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Matthew 9:9-13 (NKJV)
We see that Jesus did not only NOT discriminate against the "different people" he would fellowship with them. I hear of churches across the country rejecting people as "Members" because... well a number of excuses... I mean reasons. The truth is when people aren't just like us that makes us uncomfortable and we choose one of three options.
1) Get over ourselves and show the love that God showed us, because when were still sinners He allowed His Son to die so we could be perfect in Him. This option, simply put, is to love the people where they are.
2) Ignore them and they will go away.
3) Tell them that they are not welcomed or not welcomed until they conform to your ideology.
The shame is that many churches have selected one of the latter two. We want the Cookie Cutter Christians, the slicked down, three piece suit wearing, King Jame Version Bible holding Christian. The "RELIGIOUS LEADERS" of that day could not understand why Jesus would associate with the "SCUM OF THE EARTH" Well, here is my question to the Pharisees of today... Do you send a six year old child to a college classroom or do you start them in Kindergarten so they can grow in wisdom and knowledge gradually to the desired level? We need to love people where they are without prejudice while at the same time, in love, teaching them what is acceptable for your church.
Every church has different expectations, doctrines and traditions, but someone who is unfamiliar should not be made to feel uncomfortable on their first visit. The church should openly receive everyone regardless of who they are, what they wear, or who they used to be. Christianity is a constant process of growing in Christ. I'm not what I was, nor what I'm going to be in Christ. I hope that your church and you as an individual will embrace this openness to THE WORLD and not condemn. To rephrase Jesus' question, Is it not the homeless, the home owner, the employed and unemployed, the Muslim, the Atheist, the Christian, & the Terrorist, the white, the black, the Hispanic, the Chinese, and even the CHIEF OF SINNERS, who Jesus came to save. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD is the answer to that. We may call them sick, but that is exactly who the Great Physician came for. I want to challenge you that if someone stumbles into your worship service this week that doesn't look like they belong there, shake their hand and invite them to sit next to you. God surely loves and accepts that person after he even accepts you... doesn't he?
1) Get over ourselves and show the love that God showed us, because when were still sinners He allowed His Son to die so we could be perfect in Him. This option, simply put, is to love the people where they are.
2) Ignore them and they will go away.
3) Tell them that they are not welcomed or not welcomed until they conform to your ideology.
The shame is that many churches have selected one of the latter two. We want the Cookie Cutter Christians, the slicked down, three piece suit wearing, King Jame Version Bible holding Christian. The "RELIGIOUS LEADERS" of that day could not understand why Jesus would associate with the "SCUM OF THE EARTH" Well, here is my question to the Pharisees of today... Do you send a six year old child to a college classroom or do you start them in Kindergarten so they can grow in wisdom and knowledge gradually to the desired level? We need to love people where they are without prejudice while at the same time, in love, teaching them what is acceptable for your church.
Every church has different expectations, doctrines and traditions, but someone who is unfamiliar should not be made to feel uncomfortable on their first visit. The church should openly receive everyone regardless of who they are, what they wear, or who they used to be. Christianity is a constant process of growing in Christ. I'm not what I was, nor what I'm going to be in Christ. I hope that your church and you as an individual will embrace this openness to THE WORLD and not condemn. To rephrase Jesus' question, Is it not the homeless, the home owner, the employed and unemployed, the Muslim, the Atheist, the Christian, & the Terrorist, the white, the black, the Hispanic, the Chinese, and even the CHIEF OF SINNERS, who Jesus came to save. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD is the answer to that. We may call them sick, but that is exactly who the Great Physician came for. I want to challenge you that if someone stumbles into your worship service this week that doesn't look like they belong there, shake their hand and invite them to sit next to you. God surely loves and accepts that person after he even accepts you... doesn't he?
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