compassion or condemnation?

in the book of matthew, chapter 9, we see Jesus looking at the crowds out of jerusalem and the Bible says that He was moved with compassion, because they were like "sheep without a shepherd." i recently went on a trip to the decadent city of new orleans, one of many that i have made in my lifetime, and was dismayed to learn that despite recent hurricane activity, the city was still as evil as ever. however, i was able to make a trip down to the french quarter and even on bourbon street (gasp)! while some may find this disturbing, i invite them to remember the people that Jesus associated with were anything but upstanding members of their local church. during the course of the night, i did not drink anything stronger than pepsi (dr. pepper was hard to find there and sweet tea was even harder, and i thought it was a southern city!) and struck up conversations with quite a few people there on the street and was able to share Christ with them. at one point, i was relaxing in the jacuzzi in the hotel courtyard after a physical training session and a couple came over and we started making the usual small-talk, where everyone was from, why we were there, etc. i was surprised to learn that they lived only a couple of miles from the hotel and they also worked in french quarter on bourbon street in one of the topless bars. he was the dj, and she was the bartender. i was able to have a very meaningful conversation with them about Christ and what the Bible said about their relationship and a variety of other things. i ended up getting to see them again before i left and was able to talk some more with them about salvation. what struck me as odd was that this couple lived in the south, where there is a church in practically every square mile of every city and town, and had never heard the gospel. this is a reproach on the church. we had the same problem in seminary. we began to learn that there were people who lived only a few hundred yards of the seminary that had never heard the gospel. all of them had heard about Jesus, but never about sin and the separation it created between God and us and the need for a Saviour! i'm sure that this can be said about countless churches throughout our country and the world today. so where are we going wrong?

i believe the first place we have missed the mark is in our view of the lost. notice that Jesus was moved with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. not because they were sick, or poor, or destitute, or repressed. He hurt because they had no idea of the fate that awaited them, and they had no hope without Him. we as a church collectively have made great strides over the last few years in getting the gospel out. however, i believe we are still missing the mark. here is the lithmus test: when you go out on missions, are you going because you feel like you need to, or are you going because you truly hurt for those you are ministering to? when you give your money to missions, are you giving out of obligation or guilt, or are you giving because you lose sleep at night thinking about those who die each day and go to an eternal hell?

the second place we have missed the mark is in our view of the sinner. we seem to think, again as a church collectively, that we are better than those out there who don't go to church and who participate in sinful activities. we condemningly refer to them as drunkards, homosexuals, abortionists, drug addicts, etc. nowhere in the Bible are we listed as qualified to judge the sinner. we are told to judge each other as Christians and to hold each other accountable, but the only person qualified to judge the sinner is Christ, and the Bible says that He will one day. the reason we are not qualified to judge them, is because we are in the same boat they are. the only difference is that we have had our penalty paid for our sin. that makes us no less sinners as it does the homosexual or the child molester or the murderer. if we break part of the law, then we are guilty of the whole of the law. we are all lawbreakers. the next time you think that you are better than those "sinners" around you, try and go a day without sinning. good luck. however, if you can accept the fact that we are just as depraved and deserving of the same punishment as everyone else, then you can get past your self-righteousness and go into the less-than-desirable places and reach out to others who are lost just as you were once. there is a group of ladies that go into the strip clubs and witness to the dancers there to teach them about the glory of their created bodies and to show them a better way than exploiting themselves.

i must say, that i am guilty of this very thing. i tend to think of it in terms of "us and them." however, this past week in new orleans reminded me that the place we are going to find the lost is not in our churches. so instead of hiding our light under the bushel of the church, we need to carry it out into the darkest places of our worlds, however big or small, comfortable or not, and let it shine brightly. a lost sinner is far more likely to respect someone who comes into their world to reach out a hand, rather than standing in the church doors pointing at the cross on their steeple. a good friend of mine told me something a while back that changed my whole perspective on missions: expect lost people to act like lost people. (thanks jason!) only when we can stop looking down our noses at those participating in activities that we find reprehensible, only then can we be truly effective witnesses for our Saviour! remember, there but for the grace of God go we! aei pistos!
-C.