scum

Matthew 9

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Every time I read this I'm reminded that since I'm a follower of Jesus...

Since I have been made right with God because of what Jesus provided...

Then I have a huge responsibility to reach out in a kind & loving way to people who don't have that relationship with God.

I'm not called to be judgmental in that reaching out toward people who aren't hooked up with God.

Nor am I supposed to worry about what my prissy & precious Christian friends think about me hanging with "those kind of people".

And I always need to remember this: where would I be if the people who influenced me to follow Jesus had displayed a judgmental, holier than thou, &/or strongly negative attitude toward me before I became a follower of Jesus?

Just sayin'...