Different but Among

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”- Jesus, Mark 2:17b, NLT

“Are you a friend of sinners? Do you spend time with persons who do not know Christ, whose lives may be offensive to you, and whose reputation among “good people like us” is an embarrassment and even a scandal? Do you love sinners, care for sinners, reach out to sinners, and serve sinners? Are you- am I- a friend of sinners? Are you- am I- like Jesus?!”- Daniel Akin

“The gospel is not something merely spoken but lived, an incarnation. Hence Jesus is not sitting home taking calls but actively out making them.” – James Edwards

There is an inherent tension in the gospel for the follower of Jesus. We are called to live holy lives, lives different from the lost around us (see 1 Peter 2:9-12). But, we are simultaneously called to be among sinners welcoming them like Jesus did. So different from the lost but among the lost. And this is a hard space to live in and increasingly so as our society becomes more and more polarized. Just last week I learned of a church which is literally a brewery. You can read all about it here but, basically, it is a church that serves alcohol and pizza in hopes of getting people to meet Jesus. And while it is well intentioned, it is hard to imagine that this is what Jesus intended. By and large, my own tradition and experience is to go too far the other way. To be walled off to the very people that Jesus came to rescue. What I am hoping for is a life better lived in the tension of these extremes. To be different but also to be among. To be able to live in the scandal of grace that Jesus began. Here some context is helpful and needed. A commentator on Mark 2:13-17 says this, “The new thing in Christianity is not the doctrine that God saves sinners. No Jew would have denied that. It is the assertion ‘that God loves and saves them as sinners.’… This is the authentic and glorious doctrine of true Christianity in any age” Sharpening the reality of what is going in these verses, James Edwards observes, “The scandal of this story is that Jesus does not make moral repentance a precondition of his love and acceptance. Rather, Jesus loves and accepts tax collectors and sinners as they are.” Often my own life is one of avoiding the messiness of hanging out with sinners. It is easier after all to practice avoidance. But it isn’t mere laziness. I think there is a level of self-preservation in it too. A preservation of reputation and a preservation of personal holiness. Deep down, I think I might be scared that the holiness and cleanliness I have in Jesus will be tainted by time with sinners. And there is some Biblical truth to that reality, “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) Here is the tension though, Jesus can be around the unclean and unholy and not be tainted. He can also then enable and empower His followers to the same lived-out tension. It will be messy and way harder but, easy is not what Jesus called us to when He said, “Follow Me.” In fact, it seems to me that it will almost certainly require dependence on God to live this tension filled way. So, here is my challenge to myself and to all who’ve heeded Jesus’ call: take the risk to be with sinners. Show them the kind of welcome that Jesus did and let His life show up in your life. If we do this well, we will see amazing things happen in the lives of those who we least expect, starting with yours and mine. Different but among. Among but different.