What in the World?

What in the World?

In the book of Luke, we get to hear the teachings of Jesus. In Luke 5, He is being questioned by the Pharisees as to why He is associating with sinners. To this He replies:

“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 5:32

As I thought of this verse this week, it made me reflect on myself. Recently in my life I have started trying harder to be the person that the Lord wants me to be. In the past, I wasn’t so good at this. I was a “sinner” for sure. Something I have to keep reminding myself of is that I am still a sinner. We are all sinners. When we stop viewing ourselves as sinners, this is where our problems begin. When we stop realizing that we all have sinned and fall short, we become like the Pharisees. When we start pointing out other people’s sins and forgetting our own, then we stop being able to love others. 

Have you ever stopped to examine this line in Luke? Jesus was basically saying to the Pharisees, “I didn’t come for you, because you are self-righteous and believe that you are sinless.” Was He saying to them that as long as they were standing in judgment of others, He would not save them? That’s pretty scary, isn’t it? Does that mean that those of us who are standing in self-righteous judgment pointing out others’ sins will not be saved by Jesus? That should make us stop and take a good, hard look at our lives, our thoughts, our words, and most definitely realize how we are judging others. 

Jesus has called us over and over and over again in the New Testament to love each other. Think about it. Are you living a life that shows only love to others, or are you gossiping, spreading hatred, disparaging others, and pointing a self-righteous finger toward those that you view as “less than”? This world tends to lead us toward the latter, doesn’t it? To be Christ followers, we must be different than the world. 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:2-3