I have been thinking about how we Christians react to the "sinners" that live among us. All too often we react in very negative ways. We really aren't any different than the Pharisees that drug the woman out into the streets to stone because she was caught in the act of adultery. I have been thinking about how we should treat them. I figured we should take our cues from Jesus.
So let's look at how Jesus reacted to the sinners he came in contact with. Consider the woman I mentioned above. The Pharisees, and much of the crowd, already had the stones in their hands, when they asked what Jesus thought they should do. His answer? "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." His point? We are all guilty of sin. If we are going to accuse one person of sinning, we have to hold everyone accountable for their sins.
You see, Jesus came to change the way we think about sin and righteousness. Without Jesus there is only the law. The law can point out your guilt, but it can do nothing to save you from it. Jesus came, not to condemn, but to save. Unlike the law, He can redeem us from our sins. Our job is to be His ambassadors not to enforce the law. Enforcing the law is God's job, so let's let Him worry about that. Our job is to lead the sinner to Jesus and that is much easier to do in love than with stones in our hands. If the church doesn't have room for sinners where should they go? Does that mean we should lower our standards? No. Jesus led a blameless life and He did tell the woman to, "...go and sin no more." but his first reaction was always to love first. If we are to truly be Christians, literally little Christs, we must act like Him. Our first reaction should always be to love first.
I have been writing this blog for several months now and felt it was time to expound on the name, Beggar's Invitation. We are all sinners. We have have fallen short of the glory of God. We as Christians are no more than beggars who have been shown where to find bread and our job is to tell the other beggars where to go to find the bread. Our job isn't to point out the faults of others, remember we are all in the same boat. We are all beggars, we just know where the bread is. So go out and find other beggars and invite them to join us in the feast at Jesus' table. Go extend a Beggar's Invitation.
