“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:17
While scrolling Facebook, I came across a frequently repeated meme. “Jesus spent most of his time with the type of people that most Christians these days don’t want in their church.” The author thought the statement required a second reading. I agree it should be read a second time and more carefully than the first. Of course, I have different reasons for going through it again. Five come immediately to mind.
First, and perhaps most important of all, is the reason Jesus spent time with them. He was delivering the Gospel to those most in need of it—sinners. Christians, using the same words to invite people to know God, is the birthplace of memes like the one in question. If you believe Jesus pulled any punching in calling out their sin, you are probably either monstrously naïve or willfully ignorant.
There is a misconception as well as to who spent time with whom. Jesus went into people’s homes. Each visit, including the one to Nicodemus, qualifies as going to a sinner’s house. He visited cities just to find certain sinners. But, even when in someone’s home, the people came to be near Him, not the other way around. That’s how the need to feed multitudes came to pass.
To be accurate, there were also “church people” in those crowds. They might not have had a high regard for those they were rubbing shoulders with, but they wanted to hear too—some to accuse, others because they recognized their need.
Fourth, I feel quite sure the meme’s author spent no time researching Christian attitudes or polling the millions of church members around the globe to verify his data. Where were the science-trained fact checkers on this one? It’s one of those big lies told so often that it is accepted as fact, even by those who know better.
Finally, the meme is hypocritical. It condemns an entire population group for a behavior duplicated by the author in his statement which perpetuates a false stereotype.
I think I may know the reason why some people feel the same as the author of the meme. Christianity, as preached by Jesus, does not allow us to remain unchanged. Jesus visited sinners so that He might make them righteous, not so He could admire their sin. Pointing out a person’s errors while offering relief is not hate, it’s love.
Maranatha
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