Luke 5:31-32 NIVUK
[31] Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. [32] I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’
Back when I was a missionary, serving in quite a conservative church, a mother attended the church with her teenage daughter. They were always dressed appropriately and respectfully, as the church required (and it even had a dress code on the wall!), in long, ankle-length skirts, long-sleeved tops and headscarves.
But one Sunday, the girl rebelled ever so slightly.
She had a subtle bright tint to her hair. She had applied it during the week.
Just before the service, a well-meaning but sadly judgmental old lady tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Christian girls don’t dye their hair.’ she instructed the teenage girl.
The girl wasn’t seen again in church for months.
That event has remained with me for more than twenty-five years. It is etched on my memory.
I had worked on mission teams trying to bring young people into church. Here was one person in one church who chased one girl out of it.
For something that the old woman might have thought was a little unsightly, but it wasn’t a sin.
Nowadays, dyed hair is the least of our concerns.
There can be little doubt that sin is all around us. There is little doubt that sin is in the church. There is little doubt that sin is in our hearts.
That is all true.
But how we deal with it is the problem.
Over the centuries, the church has often caused a great deal of harm with the way it has dealt with sin and with sinners. No-one can dispute it. History states it clearly. TV dramas love to reflect it and challenge the church’s authority.
I am not going to say that any part of it was at all right. It wasn’t. It was very wrong.
In fact, ironically, it was sinful.
But the fact that the way the church reacted to sins and sinners was wrong does not mean that the sin they were reacting to was actually right.
It was still sin.
Which leaves us with a huge and very important question: how should we handle sin and sinners?
Before we get into this in any detail, we need to answer a couple of basic, fundamental questions that direct our response.
The first of these is very simple: What is sin?
What is sin?
The Bible was originally written in two languages, centuries before the first official English translation – the King James translation – was published. Those languages were Hebrew and Greek.
The Hebrew word for sin – hattat – refers to an offence against people or against God. In other words, God tells us the difference between right and wrong, we choose wrong, this offends Him, therefore it is sin.
The Fall in Genesis 3 is the best example of this.
The Greek word for sin – hamartia – refers not just to a moral offence, but also to missing the mark, to trying to reach a target, but just not being good enough.
In other words, God tells us the difference between right and wrong, we try to do what is right, but we don’t quite manage it.
Romans 3:23 explains this perfectly.
Both of these are sin.
Now we must look at who are sinners?
Who Are Sinners?
Sinners are people who either offend God by breaking His laws, or by trying to be good but are not good enough.
Who are these people in particular?
The Bible is clear about this, even though we wish it wasn’t:
Romans 3:23 NIVUK
[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:10-18 NIVUK
[10] As it is written: ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one; [11] there is no-one who understands; there is no-one who seeks God. [12] All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.’ [13] ‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practise deceit.’ ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ [14] ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ [15] ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; [16] ruin and misery mark their ways, [17] and the way of peace they do not know.’ [18] ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’
The Bible teaches that every human being, every single one, is a sinner. There are no exceptions. No-one is infallible. No-one is pure.
And that includes Christians.
Even Christian leaders.
It’s not that we were once sinners and now we are not. No! We were sinners, we are sinners now, we will be sinners until we die, and if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ, we would go to hell as sinners.
That is the truth.
And it’s a truth that even Paul the Apostle taught and believed for himself. He taught it in Romans 7, and he finished his teaching with these dramatic verses:
Romans 7:24-25 NIVUK
[24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? [25] Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
So we have seen that sin is a failure to meet God’s standards, and that everyone is a sinner.
But that leads us to a very pertinent question: Why do sinners hurt other sinners?
Why Do Sinners Hurt Other Sinners?
Because, as uncomfortable as it is for us to admit it, when people who call themselves Christians hurt other people who are sinners, this is what is happening. One group of sinful people is hurting another group of sinful people.
So why does it happen?
Jesus gives us an idea, in one of his most surreal and desperately challenging teachings:
Matthew 7:1-5 NIVUK
[1] ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. [3] ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
This passage is even more bizarre than the above translation seemed. The word rendered ‘plank’ actually doesn’t mean a wooden plank from a floor. That would be incredible enough. However, what it actually means is a load-bearing beam.
Have you seen the size of those things? That are massive – and very heavy!
Jesus’ point is very simple, but deeply profound.
We accuse our brother or sister from having a tiny speck in their eye to try to deflect attention from the massive roof beam sticking out of ours. Instead of dealing with our own sin, we would rather accuse others of theirs.
And that is profoundly wrong.
That is itself a sin of which we must – categorically must – repent.
All ill-treatment of other sinners, especially that which is done inside the church, is done for this reason.
But let me tell you something else that is both difficult and profound. Often one group of sinners actually harms another group of sinners for no other reason than to feel better about themselves.
Jesus Himself taught this in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).
But it is absolute folly.
Allow me to give you an example I often repeat.
I believe it would have been some time around 1989 or 1990 that I sat my Mathematics Prelim (Mock) Examination paper. Now, these papers are way harder than the exam, so failing them is not necessarily a bad thing as it shows you where you need to improve.
I failed it. The pass mark was fifty percent. I got forty-five percent.
Close, but not close enough.
I had a classmate who, just one year previously, had been sailing through maths classes with ease. He was really smart.
But he had fallen with a bad crowd who constantly got drunk on lager and cheap wine and smoked drugs. His school performance dropped like a stone.
He got seven percent.
His score was bad. Mine was much better.
But for all I could boast about it and claim that I was better than him, it was useless.
Because we both failed.
Sinners often hurt other sinners out of a false sense of superiority, that somehow they are better than ‘them’.
But that is sheer folly and hypocrisy.
Because we all fail.
So having explored the nature of sin and sinners and why some sinners hurt other sinners, we have to ask one final question, which is the main subject of this post: How Did Jesus Treat Sinners?
How Did Jesus Treat Sinners?
Because if we are truly His follower, this is how we will treat them.
There are three phases to this. The first of these is The Call to Change.
Matthew 4:17 NIVUK
[17] From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
This is so important to understand.
Jesus dined with sinners. He spent time with sinners. And the fact that He did so really irked the religious elite (Matthew 9:11; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:2).
But at no point at all did He tolerate or condone or approve of their sin.
Not once.
And there is a reason for that.
Sin kills.
Romans 6:23 NIVUK
[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is because of sin that death even exists (Genesis 3:19, 22-23).
So it would make no sense at all for a loving God to tolerate, condone it or approve of it.
After all, if you have a close relative whom you love who indulges in dangerous behaviour, such as drug-taking or rampant promiscuity or involvement with violent gangs, would you approve it? Would you celebrate it? Would you throw a party to recognise their identity as the family kamikaze?
Or would you do everything you possibly could to help them change?
That is what Jesus does.
That is why He spent so much time with sinners.
He was offering them the chance to change.
This is what John said about Jesus:
John 3:16-17 NIVUK
[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Sin is a cancer. That cancer is not to be celebrated with a parade or boasted about with pride.
It must be challenged.
But it is not challenged with an accusatory finger or an aggressive yell, or with ostracisation or favouritism.
It is challenged with love, and with a more appealing offer.
So we see that Jesus dealt with sinners not in judgement, but in offering a call to change.
This, in turn, was met by the sinners with A Desire to Change.
We see this very clearly in the Matthew/Levi, in how he quickly abandoned his tax collector both and followed Jesus (Matthew 9:9; Luke 5:27-28).
We see it in Zaccheus, who remained as a tax collector, but made amends for his sinful ways (Luke 19:1-10).
In fact, we see it in the lives of any prostitute or tax collector who came to Jesus and followed Him:
Luke 7:29-30 NIVUK
[29] (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptised by John. [30] But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John.)
John preached repentance. They were baptised because they had repented. As a result, they received Jesus.
They were given an opportunity to change, so they grasped it with both hands.
They saw that their own lives were not appealing. They saw Jesus was. And so the obvious thing to do was follow Him.
As well as the call to change and the desire for change, we also see the Response to Change, which was worshipful gratitude.
We see this in Luke 7:36-50.
What we see here in some ways parallels with Luke 15:11-32 – the Parable of the Lost Son.
This woman has lived a sinful life, much like the Lost Son. She came to Jesus and is changed. Only, instead of the Father showing exuberance, the outpouring of emotion came from her tears and her expensive perfume.
Just like the elder son towards his younger brother, this Pharisee, Simon, turned on the woman and treats her with disdain and contempt.
He refused to believe she had repented.
He accused her of her past sin.
In some ways, this is reminiscent of someone whom I heard objected to her church calling a pastor, now in his mid-fifties, because of how he had behaved as a boy in the church’s Boys Brigade group.
I pity those who know no grace.
But those who find it, like this woman, respond with deep exuberance and enthusiasm. Their worship is utterly sincere, because, as Jesus told Simon, they know they don’t deserve what they have and are beyond grateful for it.
We also see it in Matthew/Levi’s response: he threw a party so that he can celebrate the change and so his ex-colleagues can hear of it (Luke 5:29).
Again, this is treated with disdain by the Jewish leaders (Luke 5:30).
Again, Jesus corrected them by pointing out that His calling was to save sinners (Luke 5:31-32).
Not convict or condemn them.
And that is something we would do well to remember.
Nowhere in our remit or responsibilities in the Bible does it say that we have the right to judge those who are outside of the church (1 Corinthians 5:12). Of course, if someone is claiming to be a brother or sister but is a fake because their attitudes and actions don’t show it, that is another matter (1 Corinthians 5:9-13, see also Matthew 15:15-20; James 5:19-20).
But outside the church?
That’s God’s job.
Instead, our job is to present to then a better way of living – both in our words and our deeds – and pray that God would open their eyes.
That is what Jesus did.
That is what we should do too.
Conclusion
When was the last time you read from the book of Romans?
Chapter 1, verses 18-32 is, and always has been, such a powerful denouncement of secular contemporary culture that I'm sure many of us would rise to our feet as it was being read and yell, ‘Amen! Hallelujah! Preach it, brother! Tell it like it is, sister! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!’
But how many of us would be standing on our feet as much and just as enthusiastic for chapter 2, which begins:
Romans 2:1 NIVUK
[1] You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Chapter 2 is as powerful a denouncement of grossly hypocritical religious culture as it is possible to find.
It culminates with this extraordinary set of verses:
Romans 2:17-24 NIVUK
[17] Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; [18] if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; [19] if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth – [21] you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? [24] As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’
If we at all care about the Lord and about His glory in the nations, it should hurt like nothing else ever could that God’s Name is being blasphemed among the nations because of the shocking conduct of His people.
The very thought should bring us to our knees in brokenness and repentance.
Because it is true.
Jesus says this of the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:13 NIVUK
[13] ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Let me tell you, whenever we ill-treat a sinner and provide them with a reason to hate the Gospel and our Saviour, this is true of us.
What’s more, it is a direct and flagrant act of disobedience against the Golden Rule to love God, our neighbour and ourselves.
In short, it is sin.
It is a sin of which we must repent.
Urgently.
But if today you read these lines as someone who has been hurt by a Christian, for no other reason than the life you lead, I want you to see how Jesus treated sinners.
He hated their sin.
Of course He did. How could he love or even tolerate something that was destroying them?
But He loved them.
He loved them way deeper than anyone else ever could.
And He loves you.
Sometimes staff in Embassies make tragic mistakes. I remember once hearing a few years ago of an Embassy official who accidentally knocked down a child on a bicycle and killed them. No-one reasonable holds this against all people who have the same nationality as the Embassy staff.
No, they blame the person who broke the law, who committed the harm, who did the deed.
I know you are in pain. I know you carry deep scars. I know you expected better and received a whole lot worse.
I know.
I understand.
But the Christian message is too wonderful to be blighted by the actions of those who didn’t really understand it or live it, even if they took the name.
So I urge you: come to Jesus today. See how He treats you.
He is offering you something better.
Something wonderful.
And it can be yours.
Provided you decide to follow the ‘Friend of Sinners’.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, the Friend of Sinners, I come to You as one of those sinners. Forgive me, I pray, if I have hurt other sinners just to feel better about myself. I know that was wrong. I confess my sin and throw myself upon Your mercy. Forgive me, I pray, and make me more like You, a friend of sinners. Amen.
Questions
What is sin? What makes it so deadly?
What was Jesus’ attitude towards sin and sinners? Describe it in your own words. What can we learn from this?
How can you become a better friend of sinners?
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