Heavy-metal music, motorcycles, and muscle cars. All of these things were present at the annual Cross ’n’ Dagger church service held at the Life Bridge Church. The congregation created this special service for people who might not attend a “regular” Sunday morning meeting. Senior Pastor Bill Campbell said, “[People] can come in their leathers, if they’re bikers . . . . However they’re dressed, they’re welcomed.”
While there were no super-charged cars or bikes at Matthew’s house the night he threw a party for Jesus, there were “disreputable sinners” (Matthew 9:10). It was a motley crew that included some despised tax collectors—people known for their sin.
When the Pharisees noticed this lot of lawbreakers, they questioned the disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” (Matthew 9:11). But Jesus didn’t see them that way. He said, “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:13). (Can’t you just see the Pharisees’ eyes widen and then narrow?)
Jesus further defended the partygoers by suggesting that the Pharisees spend some quality time thinking about this verse: “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices” (Matthew 9:13). He wasn’t impressed with the Pharisees’ outer display of goodness, and He wanted compassion to cancel out their criticism.
Today Jesus wants us to have soft hearts toward people who don’t know Him. He’s pleased when we realize that sin isn’t just an issue for the unchurched. All of us need His help (Romans 3:23). Poet Jeff Bethke sums it up like this: “If grace is water, then the church should be an ocean. [The church] is not a museum for good people, it’s a hospital for the broken.”
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: John 6:22-40
More:
Read Philemon 1:17 to see Paul’s instructions to a church regarding showing grace to a repentant sinner. Read Romans 5:8 to see how God feels about sinners.
Next:
Why do we tend to see ourselves as “better” than people who are known for their sin? How might this view prevent us from sharing the message of Jesus’ love?
ruth o'reilly-smith on July 18, 2013 at 1:55 am
Jennifer, one of my regular prayers is that God would help me see people through His eyes – I’m always humbled when He does that. I also recognise that we are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glorous standard (Romans 3:23). I focus on how blessed I am to be forgiven and realise I am no better because I am forgiven.
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 9:52 am
Ruth,
It is important to remember our own sin as we regard other people. Your comment reminded me of some great lyrics from a Brandon Heath song called Give Me Your Eyes. Here are some of the words:
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see…
Terrence on July 18, 2013 at 3:14 am
Hi Jen,
Much needed thought for everyone like me, who have fallen short of God. Thank for rembering us that our lord is for sinner only.
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 10:00 am
Hi Terrence,
Yes, Jesus is for sinners only–that means He is for the entire human race! The great thing is that He loves us despite our sin (Romans 5:8), and He doesn’t leave us in our sin. Through Him, we have a way out of sin’s chains. In this life, we have supernatural power to resist sin, and in the next life, sin won’t keep us separate form God (Romans 6:23).
Terrence on July 19, 2013 at 2:02 am
Thanks, Jen
roxanne robbins on July 18, 2013 at 6:02 am
This reminds me of a funeral I attended several years ago. Among the attendees were dozens of people recovering from harmful addictions. As they loudly and confidently sang, “Our God is an Awesome God” my friend looked at me and said, “This is how it should be in the church.” … a place for healing and reconciliation with God.
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 10:05 am
Roxanne, thanks for this comment. Truly, those who have been forgiven much, love much (Luke 7:47).
tom felten on July 18, 2013 at 8:08 am
Jen, I was thinking about God’s grace this morning. What an amazing gift we’ve been given by God (Ephesians 2:5)! No matter what we’ve done, no matter where we’ve been, like the father with arms spread wide as he welcomed home the prodigal son—our heavenly Father invites us to come home through belief in Jesus His Son as the only One who can save us.
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Hi Tom,
The story of the prodigal son shows God’s heart for us! When we truly leave our sin behind, He welcomes us without holding anything back (Luke 15:22-24). When He forgives, He forgives everything all the way and forever (Micah 7:19). I’m so thankful for His grace in my life! 🙂
Yovoyan Abraham on July 18, 2013 at 8:13 am
It is true that we should have a soft heart towards the unbelievers. Consider this, “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”(2 Timothy 2:25-26)
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Yovoyan,
What a good reminder of how we are to treat unbelievers, regardless of how they may appear to us. We should have this same spirit of gentleness when dealing with fellow Christians who have wandered (Galatians 6:1). Thankfully, this gentleness is available through the power of Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Praise God that He equips us to carry out what He calls us to do!
daisymarygoldr on July 18, 2013 at 8:53 am
Just the other day I had asked the Lord to show me clearly, where in His word he said that church is a hospital. Even Dr. Luke did not use the hospital metaphor as God led him to record the institution of His Church. As I searched the scriptures, it made me wonder why the Lord would reveal this important truth exclusively to the elite in a rich country and hide it from the rest of us, the poor. Today’s post is an answer to my prayer.
Thanks Jennifer for the Jeff Bethke quote! This strange doctrine is not a scriptural truth but is from the spoken word poem of a person who had gained notoriety for his “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” video. Note, Jesus is coming back not to a hospital for the broken but for His bride that is without blemish. Those who say church is a hospital consider themselves as physicians to think they are “better” than people who are known for their sin.
In reality they are blind guides who promise freedom, but themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. Jesus did not come to call hypocrites who think they are righteous and whole as health experts. Matthew who had invited despised tax collectors included these words of Jesus: “unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20).
And lest we get misled by the teaching that says Jesus defended partygoers, Matthew reminds us that when Jesus returns, those who are enjoying parties and getting drunk will be cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:38, 49-51). Sorry, but this does not sound like a soft heart to me. Also, Jesus did not dress like tax collectors or extort money to show His love for them.
To show mercy with heavy-metal music, motorcycles, and muscle cars reeks of riches and revelry. Lovers of themselves and lovers of money, God will surely reward such pastors and people for their works. Their destruction is their reward even as they indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. Their god is their appetite as they think only about this life here on earth. This is the sad state of the church that is rich but is poor, blind and naked.
A.W Tozer rightly described these depraved minds of counterfeit Christians: “Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Worldliness is an accepted fact of our way of life. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual.” In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul warns the church of the lawlessness that is already at work and exhorts them to stand firm to hold the traditions which they were taught.
Yes, we show grace and compassion, rescue people by snatching them from the flames of judgment, show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, not being soft on sin but hating even the garment defiled by the flesh (Jude 1:22-23).
jennifer benson schuldt on July 18, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Hi daisymarygoldr,
Jesus said, “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:13). He knows how to reach each of us, despite the desires and passions that separate us from understanding the Truth of His Word. Even now, God is patient with the world we live in for the sake a a few who will come to know Him as their Savior (2 Peter 3:9).
Wiggy on July 18, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Our Lord, Jesus was accused by the scribes and Pharisees of being a glutton and a winebibber. They complained He ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners.
We, who are accustomed to closetting ourselves within the four walls of ornate houses of worship, expect sinners to come running to our august architecture to hear polished expositions of biblical truth and thereby find repentance and faith.
The elder brother in the story of the prodigal son was consumed with his own self-righteousness… Unlike his father, he never waited at the edge of the village for his lost brother’s return. The elder son complained bitterly at the father’s joy when the “lost and dead” brother returned home as a penitent, broken man.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast in Luke 14 tells us that the real guests at the wedding banquet of the Lamb will come from the world’s highways and byways – from society’s outcasts and broken people. The key verb in The Great Commission is “go”… only this world’s “elder brothers” dare stay at home, saturated in their own private piety, while their neighbours rush headlong to damnation.
winn collier on July 22, 2013 at 3:58 pm
I’m deeply drawn to Jesus call to mercy, here and in so many places.