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An article by Tom Gilbert
— June 2005
As Jesus went on from there, he
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's
booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew
got up and followed him. (Matthew 9:9 NIV)
Come as you are, as you were,
As I want you to be
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.
— Nirvana from “Come As You Are”
When Jesus walked the Earth he went
about bringing Good News to others, especially for the
downtrodden, the hurting, the sick and, of course, sinners.
He wasn’t going about condemning these people.
His criticisms were mainly toward the religious leaders
of the day and towards the self righteous.
This is an interesting thing. Christ came to call sinners,
but he didn’t make it a requirement to get your
life together first and be righteous. Instead he offered
compassion and the invitation to follow him. He accepted
them for who they were and he didn’t demand immediate
change.
How very different from what people then, and now, expect
of God. Most of us tend to think God won’t love
us unless we are “good”. And since no one
can measure up to the high standard of goodness we wallow
in our unworthiness. We are insecure. We keep trying
to get it right, but without realizing that God and
Jesus are freely offering the help we so desperately
need to live our lives. This is why grace is such an
amazing thing. It is commonplace Christian theology
that we are “saved by grace, not by righteousness”
and yet we still attempt to live up to high moral standards
without surrendering to this grace. Or worse, we simply
compromise; believing that all will be forgiven without
ever having a transformational change of heart.
I Can't, He Can, I'll Let
Him
It seems to me that the transformation
takes place by first admitting we can’t do it
on our own, accepting God’s love and mercy (the
grace), and then doing what Jesus taught.
In the Gospel of Matthew the religious leaders of the
day ask Jesus why he was eating and hanging out with
sinners (like tax collectors who were considered most
unclean). Jesus answers the question by telling them
that sick people are the ones who need a doctor. He
quoted Old Testament prophets when he instructed the
Pharisees to find out what the verse from Hosea 6:6
means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Who is more Christ like, the preacher who condemns or
the person who spends time helping the poor, the hungry
and the downtrodden?
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Here Comes Everybody
Maybe one of the challenges we have
with this “come as you are” teaching is that
it means God’s invitation is for everyone. It is
all inclusive, not exclusive. This means there will be
people at the banquet table of the Lord that we would
prefer not to sit with.
If it was good enough for Jesus to meet people where they
were and offer compassion, forgiveness and love then it
should be okay with us. How differently the message of
the Gospel (which means “Good News”) sounds
when we don’t demand that people accept it right
away or tell them they are condemned to hell. People need
to see our love in action and they need to know that God
loves everyone in spite of their shortcomings. Making
a decision to follow Christ might take some thought, but
if we welcome others in Jesus’ name without demanding
immediate conversion then we give people the opportunity
to consider the message first.
Rules and regulations miss the point. Yes, we need order
and good orderly direction and the kind that you find
throughout the Bible is practical and proper. Maybe we
could spend more time suggesting that seekers consider
the message first and then share our own experience of
God’s love in our lives. As I’ve heard a friend
share, “I was once where you are now. Come find
out where you can be.”
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 - NIV)
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Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All
rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission
of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
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the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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