notorious

Luke 15 

1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 

2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain 

that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

The question here is simple...

We claim to be followers of Jesus...

Is there so much of His likeness in us that the "notorious sinners" of today want to hang out around us?

Do we possess in the quality of our lives such a beauty & acceptance that anyone, not just "notorious sinners", want to be around us?

Or, are we so judgmental, or "holy", or closed minded, or narrow minded, or any number of other unChristlike qualities, that we just can't allow ourselves to associate with "people like that"?

There was an innate quality about Jesus that made people feel drawn to Him.

Do we, as His followers, a people who claim to "have the mind of Christ" innately display a quality that people who do not follow Jesus, or reject the who God thing, seek to be around us?

I think we all know the answers to these questions.

In our present paradigm it is not socially acceptable for us to hang with unacceptable people.

They might "hurt our witness" or "our friends wouldn't approve" or we might "get involved with someone or something we'll later regret."

Where would any of us be if the people who influenced our lives had felt the way we do when we were not followers of Jesus?