Friday, January 15, 2010

Which Way must it Be?

Each day I will be posting from the daily Bible Reading plan we will be doing at West Side. On weekdays we will be going through the New Testament. On the weekends we will read passages from the Old Testament books of Psalms and Proverbs. We invite you to join along.

So today we see a little of Jesus’ humor (Matthew 11). Jesus has been asked by the followers of John if he is actually the one John was preparing the way for. Jesus tells them he is, and as they are walking away he begins to question people about why they went to John. Towards the end of the discussion Jesus shares these words:

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”

Jesus asks them which way they want it. Are they going to accuse the prophet because he abstains and reject the messiah because he participates? Sometimes I think we struggle with the same mindset of the people. We want to abstain from everything that can be perceived evil. Jesus however did not do that. He went were “sinners” were. He was willing to meet them on their level. He was willing to meet them so that he could reach them. I am not saying we need to go to a strip club so that we can open a door to share the message of Christ. But, would it hurt for us to go where people are to build relationship as we seek to bring life change? Give me your thoughts on this idea in the comment section below.

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