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Come As You Are |
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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 Cant'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
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
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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PSALM 16:7-9 |
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"I will praise the LORD , who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure."
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(NIV) |
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