Jesus, What A Friend of Sinners

"Any church that will not accept that it consists of sinful men and women, and exists for them, implicitly rejects the gospel of grace." -Brennan Manning

I've been wondering lately about why so many churches in America are filled with people who (at least outwardly) appear to have it all together. First of all, this is an illusion, because nobody is without weaknesses, trials, besetting sins, disappointments...the list goes on. So, if so many of us seem to have it together, but we all know the truth that we don't, why do I (we) still fall into the trap of believing that other people don't have problems like we do, that other people's families don't have issues like ours do? I confess, looking at some people's blogs or pictures on facebook sometimes gives me the impression that there are some perfect families and perpetually happy people out there. But, seriously? Those are just pictures. My sister and I laugh sometimes when we look at Christmas cards with pictures of families with perfectly coordinating outfits, sitting serenely in a field or in front of a fireplace. A moment frozen in time where everyone looks happy and everything looks great. But if pictures could talk, we might hear the children complaining, the baby crying, the parents scolding. Don't get me wrong, I love photography and enjoy looking at pictures of friends and their families, but I have the sneaking suspicion that the "picture face" we so easily wear for photo shoots is all too often worn as we interact within the Body of Christ.

Jesus knows we aren't perfect, so why do we try to pretend that we are?

The fact that the church is filled with people who seem to have it all together is disturbing to me for another reason: Jesus was a magnet for the outcasts of society. He was labeled a friends of sinners, not as a compliment, but as a derogatory term for one who did not fit the mold of the religion of his day. As people who have been given the task of continuing His mission, as those who have His Spirit within us, shouldn't we also be known as friends of sinners? Shouldn't we attract those whose lives are not only inwardly messy (however carefully concealed that fact may be), but also those who are outwardly messy, modern day tax collectors, adulteresses, as well as the physically sick and financially impoverished?

What a privilege it would be to love such people, for in loving them we are loving Christ (Matthew 25: 31-40).

We have no reason to hide. May Jesus help us to honestly live before one another, thankfully free from the fear of exposure, and joyfully welcoming of all those who Jesus would be found loving. May we too become known as the friends of sinners. And may we not forget that Jesus is not only the Friend and Savior of "other" sinners; He is Savior of the religious who realize that their faith has become hollow. He is Rescuer of the hypocrites (I think that's all of us) who hate the fact that they so often say one thing and do another, who hear a great sermon and then have forgotten it by lunch time. He is for all of us who find ourselves struggling both with outwardly and inwardly messy lives. He is the Friend of Sinners who invites us to be friends of one another that His love and compassion might flow through us.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

II Corinthians 4: 7