Jesus Didn't Come to Fix the Church

I want to start with a thank you to all those who read my blog off my Facebook page.  I appreciate all the comments you leave me there - thank you!  :)

Matthew 9 -

Jesus has just healed a man and forgiven his sins when He encounters Matthew, a tax collector, and calls him to discipleship.  The discipleship lesson begins with sitting down and rubbing elbows with what the Amplified Bible calls the "especially wicked sinnners...the preeminently sinful".  These guys have been pegged by society and religon as most offensive, yet here is Jesus and his newby disciple eating with them.  Why?

"Those who are strong and well (healthy) have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick.  Go and learn what this means:  I desire mercy [that is, readiness to help those in trouble] and not sacrifice and sacrificial victims.  For I came not to call and invite [to repentance] the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin)."

Jesus was on a mission to save sinners from sin: to save you, me, your neighbor, and all those who acts you cannot abide.  And He was willing to associate with them, to eat with them, to be in their world (not of it) in order to accomplish His mission.  This was highly offensive to some, but Jesus was clear, "I didn't come to call the righteous".  He wasn't interested in "fixing the righteous" - they were righteous already!  He was doggedly determined to get to those who were lost.

There are two kinds of righteous people:  a) those who are righeous by the righteousness of Christ, having received and taken on His righteousness as a free gift of God's grace, and b) those who are righteous because they do the right thing.  Righteousness can be achieved both ways, but the "b" camp has a tough row to hoe as they say - Paul makes it clear in Galatians that if you are going to be righteous by your right actions, then you'd better be right ALL the time because one unrighteous act disqualifies you, nullifying your righteousness.  Ummm, I choose "a".  Nevertheless, if you can pull it off, you are righteous.  And Jesus is happy about us being righteous.  So His attention focuses on those who aren't righteous and how He can bring them into relationship with the Father (Mission).

Now we have to ask ourselves:  Where is our focus?  On "fixing the righteous", or on "reaching the unrighteous"? 

Calling the righteous to repentance falls under the catetory of "biting and devouring each other" (Gal. 5:15), and judging and condemning each other (Matthew 7).  It brings destruction to the "fellowship" (Gal. 5:15) and the lost are ignored. 

But saved and called out ones, if we are living on Mission, our challenge is to not get caught up in the wrong focus.  Let's focus our gaze to see and reach those who need Christ.  The righteous are righteous already (or are trying to be). 

Let's see the lost, the broken, the hurt and the dying
Let's love them, have compassion on them
Let's be merciful to those lost in sin
Let's bring Jesus to their table/home/office/

Let's begin choosing to live on Mission

I am challenged as I know you are, and as I pray for me, I'll pray for you - on Mission together,
Michelle


Question:  I wonder if Mathew's "first love" that he would be called upon to remember was that of sitting with and reaching sinners - that as Jesus reached him, he would reach others?