We find one clue for how to scale the gospel in the way Jesus interacted with sinners. He was known as a “friend of sinners.” In other words, normal, everyday, non-religious people felt comfortable around him. They gravitated toward him while avoiding the other religious leaders of his day. (See Luke 15:1)
One of the biggest differences between Jesus and the Pharisees was the way in which they called sinners to repent. “Repent” is a nice religious word that means to change course or turn around. The Pharisees’ message to sinners went something like this: If you will repent, we will accept you. Change how you live, what you eat, and how you dress and you can be one of us. For the Pharisees, repentance was a prerequisite to being accepted.
Jesus, on the other hand, accepted sinners regardless of their past mistakes or present messiness of their lives. He loved them and accepted them before they repented. When asked why, he told his critics that he accepted sinners as a way of calling them to repent. (See Luke 5:27-32) He demonstrated that the best way to help change the course of of someone’s life wasn’t to exclude them until they changed, but to include them so they could see a better way.
This wasn’t an act of politically correct tolerance from Jesus. He accepted sinners, not because he believed they were just fine as they were, but because he believed they needed, and even wanted, to change, and because he knew they would not or could not change if they were always excluded by the religious establishment. His message was not “Clean up your life and you will be accepted by God.” It was “Because you are loved and accepted by God, you have the power to change the way you live.”
It’s hard to get in shape if the trainer won’t let you work out until you’re in shape.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons