The Division In Religion
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Drawing Nearer To Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
Drawing Nearer To Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
Praying about our B2 Campaign, I remember the friends I left behind.....
When we have something that others don't have, we tend to hold it over them, rub it in their face, or even make them feel less than because they don't have it. Which in turn makes us feel as if we are better than they are because we do.
money, power, status, influence, experience, friendships
It’s in our nature to want to belong. When feel like we don’t, we tend to vilify the people or the systems that we blame for the separation. Then we create other things that we can boast about and use to keep others out .
cause, purpose, history, identity, opression
All of these things cause one thing, division!
Mark 2:
13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
What’s even worst is that we do this with Jesus.
Drawing near to Jesus shouldn’t draw us further from others.
13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
Jesus called the lowliest of the low.
The tax collector. Dishonest, extortion, thief, liar, craved money more than righteousness. But he was called in the same way the fishermen were called. Following Jesus is open to ALL.
One does not have to strive to be worthy of God's love, we simply have to respond to His call to follow Him. That’s the difference between religion and Jesus. It’s not about a set of rules to follow so that you can go to heaven, that’s miserable.
Jesus came to love, serve, and offer salvation to everyone!
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.
Jesus does more than preach faith and repentance, He befriends them. Jesus draws people to Himself, people that would otherwise have nothing to do with religion, people that the religious want nothing to do with. They were drawn to Jesus, they sat with Him and they followed Him.
It is not to say that their lifestyle is acceptable, but to say that they can be transformed and are worthy of the opportunity to respond to who Jesus is.
It was safe for them to be around Jesus because they saw one of their own following Him. Jesus attracted the type of people that He surrounded Himself with. They didn't feel judged or looked down upon, they felt as if they belonged. It’s because of how Jesus approached them. Without fear, judgment, or disdain.
He called out to them, included them, loved them. They belonged before they believed. I think many churches today have that backwards because they operate under the perception that one must believe before they belong!
Drawing Near to Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus' acceptance of these sinners is appalling to the Pharisees. They can't imagine sitting next to these types of people, much less eating a meal with them.
The Pharisees approach Jesus' disciples with questions about Jesus' motives. Why do they not ask Jesus? They are so taken by what Jesus is doing that they attempt to discredit Him and sow discord within the group by introducing doubt into the minds of His followers. (Satan has been doing that from the very beginning, ADAM and EVE, and continues to do it today)
Aren’t we warned about the company we keep? Yes we are. The Pharisees were just responding the way they were taught to respond, doing their best to keep the law.
20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33
This was not an excuse to have a party or a fun time with sinners, it was to bring about healing and transformation.
There is a difference between keeping the law and being callous of the needs of the people around you.
Jesus came, not to have a party or a fun time with sinners, but to bring about healing and transformation.
Jesus did not fear being affected by the sinners around Him, but instead was the power that would change them.
Holiness is not something that needs to be safeguarded and kept locked up behind a glass case in a museum, but it is the transforming power of God that can turn sinners into disciples.
Our self righteousness and pride does nothing to help the lost around us but adds to the division between them and Jesus because they see us as a representation of who Jesus is. But it’s not even close!
Our self righteousness and pride does nothing to help the lost around us but adds to the division between them and Jesus because they see us as a representation of who Jesus is. But it’s not even close!
Our self righteousness and pride does nothing to help the lost around us but adds to the division between them and Jesus because they see us as a representation of who Jesus is. But it’s not even close!
Drawing Near to Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus did not sort people out into classifications of holy or unholy, clean and unclean, worthy or unworthy, He gathered all to Himself under grace and love for the forgiveness of sin and the salvation of people.
4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
The Gospel goes from being for full members only to a public access message.
Drawing Near to Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
The Point
The Point
Why do we feel sorry for the physically ill but not for the spiritually ill? Which has more importance? Why is it ok to heal a leper or blind man or a cripple, but not offer salvation to a sinner?
Why do we think ourselves superior to others?
money, power, status, influence, experience, friendships
People without will create things in their lives to boast about.
cause, purpose, history, identity, opression
All of these things cause one thing, division!
We have created a system that makes Jesus and Christianity look like a judgmental, exclusive entity that only certain types of people can approach. We’ve done this because of our own fear and insecurities.
Jesus makes us who we are, it is not of our own work.
How do we look at the sinners around us?
We judge people that don't look like us.
We attack people that go against our way of thinking.
We see ourselves as better than others.
We pick and choose who is worthy of time.
We don't feel as if the lost around us are interested in hearing about Jesus.
We don't want to be judged by other Christians because of who we associate with.
We feel like we don't belong.
We feel like church was not designed for us.
We feel judged and unwelcome.
We feel that the Christian life is too far beyond our grasp.
We feel that Jesus and forgiveness is too far beyond our grasp.
We’ve created this division and done more harm than anything.
Jesus has destroyed the entire system of ranking created by the Pharisees and nullifies all the work they have done to attain their status of holiness.
We don't want to be judged by other Christians because of who we associate with.
Salvation goes from being for full members only to a public access message.
We don't want to be judged by other Christians because of who we associate with.
We tend to be drawn to people that look most like us. When the church begins to see itself as a body of believers who were saved by the grace of Jesus Christ instead of a group of elitists, then maybe the broken people standing on the outside looking in will not feel intimidated or unwelcome.
We tend to be drawn to people that we think look most like us. The lost in our lives are just like us. They are waiting. Waiting to be called out to, waiting to be included, waiting to be loved, waiting for us to let them know that we were just as broken and lost as they are, until Jesus.
The way we do that is by recognizing that Jesus makes us who we are, it is not of our own work. Without Him, we are all hopeless and wretched creatures deserving of death.
When our pursuit of holiness causes us to neglect the call to love those around us, then we have missed the message of Jesus completely!
Drawing Near to Jesus Shouldn’t Draw Us Away From Others
Religion is man's search for God. Christianity is God's search for man. This means that the church must bring Jesus to the people instead of merely bringing the people to Jesus.
Religion is man's search for God. Christianity is God's search for man. This means that the church must bring Jesus to the people instead of merely bringing the people to Jesus.
Religion is man's search for God. Christianity is God's search for man. This means that the church must bring Jesus to the people instead of merely bringing the people to Jesus.
Religion is man's search for God. Christianity is God's search for man. This means that the church must bring Jesus to the people instead of merely bringing the people to Jesus.
Challenge/Invitation
We have to show the people around us that we share the loving and welcoming attitude of Jesus over that of religion.
