The Daily Word

 

Over time and increasingly over the last 25 -50 years, standards which are acceptable for human behaviour have changed, not always for the better. As a veteran worker, I look back with some nostalgia to the 70s, when work life could easily be mixed with social life and work sometimes was fun! We had real lunch hours, not a grabbed sandwich with the other hand on a computer keyboard. We had respect for one another, not because legislation or human resources people said we had to, but because we wanted to get on as people to accomplish our targets.

Okay, some prejudices were probably stronger then, but university life had changed many of my views because there were so many different cultures and races and classes of students, who I realised were just as human as me. In particular, within the Christian Union there were committed Christians from every denomination all wanting to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was conducting His ministry, He too ran up against strong prejudice and introduced radical changes to what society in His day would accept and these changes were based on love, love for all people regardless of their background, life condition or even nationality. The Pharisees, whose whole lives were governed by laws which they claimed were based on what God wanted, were greatly offended by Jesus’ actions and words and in Luke 15, they criticised Jesus in this way. “This man receives sinners and eats with them!” 

If Jesus had not received sinners, we would be still outside of God’s salvation. We can, and should, meet with those outside of Jesus Christ but not follow them, fellowship but not ‘followship’ . Our motive always should be the same as Jesus, to seek to win them for Jesus. He did that perfectly and Hebrews says, “He was in all points tempted just as we are, yet WITHOUT SIN”. Relying on His strength and letting Him act through us is essential, as in our own strength we would end up indistinguishable from them. But let us too receive sinners and pray that all come to know Jesus as their Saviour. 

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church