The Friend of Sinners

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:34).

It is often said that you can tell what a person is like by the company he keeps. There is some truth in it. Birds of a feather flock together, as we often say. But it’s not the whole truth: you have to consider people’s motives for the company they keep. Teachers, for example, spend their lives in the company of children because they regard it a great privilege to have some share in developing their potential. Social workers spend their time with problem families because they hope to be able to help to solve the problems in the families they serve. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the Pharisees that Jesus might have kept bad company for a good reason. But He did. So should we.

In Mark 2:13-17, we read of the conversion of Levi (more commonly known as Matthew), a tax collector. This story of Matthew is usually taken as a model of conversion, because Jesus called him and he rose up and followed Him. But it seems to be an even better model of mission, of how we can reach people for Jesus. What is most important in the story is not the response that Matthew gave to the call of Jesus but what happened right after—the dinner party. That was the real essence of this story.

Matthew Invited His “Sinner” Friends to Christ

Once Matthew had met Jesus, it was the most natural thing in the world that he should want to introduce his friends to Him. New converts ought to be discouraged from dreaming about exotic and distant places to evangelize. The first thing Jesus says to them is, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19).

Our friends and our family, our colleagues at work, and our neighbors where we live—these are the people who have the first priority in our evangelistic witness. Some of them might be uncomfortable about accepting your invitation to come to church, but they’d accept your invitation to come to your home. That’s where they can relax. In the home among friends and neighbors we can talk freely of Jesus. That’s the first thing Matthew did. Let’s copy him.

The Pharisees’ Mistake Was Separating Themselves From Sinners

The word Pharisee means more or less “separatist.” The Sadducees compromised with Roman culture, while the Pharisees held themselves apart from it altogether. We can applaud the motive of the Pharisees. They wanted to live a holy and  righteous life. They wanted to live a life that was pleasing to God, which is fine. Their mistake was that they interpreted holiness in terms of insulation. They thought the best way to be righteous is to avoid contact with the unrighteous, so they were shocked to see the company Jesus kept.

True holiness is quite different from Pharisaic holiness. True holiness is not a matter of our external contacts. True holiness is a matter of the heart. It’s the pure in heart, Jesus said, who see God. The tragedy is that there have been in the Christian church many Christian “Sadducees” who are so determined to live in the real world and not isolate themselves from it that they have adopted its standards. On the other hand Christian “Pharisees” are so determined to live a holy life and not surrender the standards of Jesus that they withdraw from the world altogether. Both get it wrong. Jesus was neither.

Christ Came to Save Sinners

Just as a doctor spends his time with the sick because he is dedicated to healing, Jesus mixed with tax collectors and sinners. He came into the world to save them. He is the physician of our souls. Christianity, Jesus taught here, is a rescue religion. The people Jesus came for are those who humble themselves to acknowledge the fact of their sin and guilt and their need of His forgiveness.

This reaching out to people in need, this outreach to sinners that we call mission, tells us what kind of God He is. Christ came into the world to save sinners, and His entry into the world was not superficial. He didn’t just touch down upon the earth as the Apollo astronauts touched down on the moon and then withdrew again. Jesus identified with us by assuming a human nature. He exposed Himself to our temptations. He experienced something of our loneliness and of our pain. And on the cross He even bore our sin and died our death. It was total identification. He entered right into the world where we are in order to reach us for God.

What about us? Where do we fit in the picture? Do we care for outsiders like Matthew, who understood the mind of Christ, or do we avoid them like the Pharisees? Let us determine to make friends with unbelievers, to love them, and to seek to introduce them to Christ.

—John R. W. Stott