Christian Living
“And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?”
Mark 2:15-16 KJV
As a Christian, would you comfortably sit and enjoy dinner with a group of unbelievers?
You probably think that’s a rhetorical question because we are surrounded daily with unbelievers. But let’s really say that you have a choice, at work, school, etc, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to associate more with believers than unbelievers? I know what my personal response to that question is, would yours match Jesus’s action in Mark 2: 15-16?
One can argue that there weren’t really many ‘believers’ when Jesus dined with those sinners at Levi’s house, so His choices were slim, but then He could have avoided them nicely and eaten alone.
Why did Jesus choose to eat with sinners? Was it so that they wouldn’t feel isolated or discriminated against? Or was He avoiding being tagged ‘Mr. Holier than thou’?
Jesus expresses the reason for His action in the next few verses….
“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Mark 2:17 KJV
Jesus’s motive was simply to identify with the sinners in order to reach them and bring them to repentance.
Apostle Paul speaks about becoming all things to all men so as to win and save some.
“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.“
1 Corinthians 9:20-23 KJV
In today’s world, we may not be able to limit our interactions to only believers, however as Christians, in order to remain relevant in upholding Heaven’s mandate and fulfill kingdom business, it’s important to be purpose-driven in our relations and also distinguishable from the world around us.
When salt loses its savor it is no longer of any use.
Shalom!
