Reaching the Lost
The Gospel of Luke records,
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:27-32.
As Christian are you reaching out to the sinner in a positive way? Would you be invited into the house of a non-Christian to share your faith?
Jesus taught in a very positive way. He did not differentiate between people. He spoke to a Samaritan woman whom most Jews of the day would have shunned. In the above incident he entered the home of a tax collector to eat with him.
The religious leaders of the day criticized him for doing so.
Many Christians are like that today.
Many Christians spend a great deal of time talking against the sins of the world but not reaching out to the sinner.
By preaching against the sin they may say they are reaching out to the sinner but the reality is the sinner is seeing it as an attack on their person, on their way of life.
If anyone had the right to judge a person it was Jesus yet he didn’t. Instead he presented the word of God to all that were around him.
This was the key trait of both Jesus and the Apostles. When they presented their beliefs they did not speak out against anyone other than those within their own faith.
This is the example we must follow. Jesus said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
Every true Christian desires to tell people of the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus. It is therefor imperative that we treat people in the same we would like to be treated. It is imperative that we reach out with the hand of friendship and build bridges between ourselves and others. For it is only then that we can reach people for Christ effectively.
Like the writer of Hebrews said,
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Hebrews 12:14.
Please think about it.
The Gospel of Luke records,
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:27-32.
As Christian are you reaching out to the sinner in a positive way? Would you be invited into the house of a non-Christian to share your faith?
Jesus taught in a very positive way. He did not differentiate between people. He spoke to a Samaritan woman whom most Jews of the day would have shunned. In the above incident he entered the home of a tax collector to eat with him.
The religious leaders of the day criticized him for doing so.
Many Christians are like that today.
Many Christians spend a great deal of time talking against the sins of the world but not reaching out to the sinner.
By preaching against the sin they may say they are reaching out to the sinner but the reality is the sinner is seeing it as an attack on their person, on their way of life.
If anyone had the right to judge a person it was Jesus yet he didn’t. Instead he presented the word of God to all that were around him.
This was the key trait of both Jesus and the Apostles. When they presented their beliefs they did not speak out against anyone other than those within their own faith.
This is the example we must follow. Jesus said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
Every true Christian desires to tell people of the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus. It is therefor imperative that we treat people in the same we would like to be treated. It is imperative that we reach out with the hand of friendship and build bridges between ourselves and others. For it is only then that we can reach people for Christ effectively.
Like the writer of Hebrews said,
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Hebrews 12:14.
Please think about it.
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