We are talking about the people Jesus met on the street during our indoor soccer half-time devotions at church. Jesus never seemed to be too busy to stop and engage the people that he met along the road. Some of the people he met were wealthy tax collectors and rulers of the people. Others were poor beggars. Still others had broken homes, were prostitutes, outcast lepers or sick, lame, or blind. Jesus stopped to talk to all of them, and often did the unexpected. He ate with sinners. He healed the lepers. He forgave the prostitutes. He healed the sick. And he chastised the rich for thinking they could get into heaven because they were wealthy and successful.
Jesus didn't seem to have a problem getting his hands dirtied by associating with people of the world. In contrast, the modern church seems to suffer from a bad case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Oh we are willing to get our hands dirty in the world, as long as we can get back to our safe little enclave where we can get cleaned up and wash off all the filth of the world. But we become very uneasy whenever someone with real problems wants to join our community. We don't know how to deal with that.
It's really a sad commentary on the church that we have to go outside our four walls to find real people with real struggles in this life. We tell ourselves that we couldn't make it through life without Jesus, that He is the answer to all of life's struggles. But when someone from "the world" comes into the church with real problems, seeking help, we find ourselves washing the germs off the door knobs as they leave. After all, we don't want to be contaminated by the world...
I am afraid we have not progressed much from the early church. In James Chapter 2, the half brother of Jesus chastised the church for making distinctions between people. Sadly, we still seem to be doing that. Hospitals are filled with sick people. And people who work in a hospital are there to help the sick get well. Everyone knows that. So why isn't the church of Jesus Christ known as a place filled with damaged, hurting, and lost people, who are seeking God? And why aren't church people known as loving healers who are doing everything they can to help the broken find Jesus.
Doug
