Spending time with Riff Raff

A neighbor once complained that our food pantry was attracting riff raff. That made me smile. It reminded me of the time that Jesus was accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

It was true. One Jesus disciples, Levi, was a tax collector. They were considered as undesirable as prostitutes and thieves. They were excluded from religious services and social events. Their testimony was not valid in court.

Upon accepting Jesus' call, Levi threw a big party for his fellow tax collectors and friends. He wanted them to meet Jesus and the Apostles. His friends would have been outsiders but they all needed Jesus.

Levi had only been a believer for a short time but he is so concerned about the condition of his tax-collecting buddies that he takes a risk and throws an evangelistic party. The veteran spiritual leaders – highly educated, thoroughly trained, well-seasoned – missed the entire point of what Levi and Jesus were doing at this party.

Levi demonstrated the relational concept of soul winning. Like Levi we each have a circle of friends and acquaintances whom we can invite them to a church event that they might find interesting.

Would you dedicate Friday nights to Jesus? Plan a night of board games and snacks and invite an unchurched family so you can get to know them. Include another Christian family. As you spend time together and as God leads, you can move conversations deeper into personal matters, and finally into spiritual matters.

Create opportunities to hang out with unchurched people by becoming involved in community groups, school organizations and local politics.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;

make the most of every opportunity.

Colossians 4:5

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Seeing potential when others see problems

Mark 2:13-17

Jesus called Levi, a tax collector, while teaching on the shore of Lake Galilee. Tax collectors were among the most undesirable people on the same level as prostitutes and thieves. They were not accepted in society and were excluded from all religious services. They were not considered truthful enough to appear as witnesses in court.

Jesus called a man no one else wanted. He saw Levi's humanity and potential and overlooked his faults and forgave his sins.

Levi was excited about his new life and threw a party in Jesus' honor, inviting his friends and co workers. The guest list was what we would expect from an outcast like Levi. There were other tax collectors, many of them were thieves. There were other “sinners”, too: robbers, prostitutes, drunkards, etc. Levi embodied the relational concept of soul winning. He reached out to the people he knew.

The religious establishment objected to Jesus' eating with these outcasts and questioned his character. There are still those among the religious establishment today with a critical spirit of others who don’t quite fit their expectations or traditions. The religious establishment missed Jesus in that day. They missed him during the Reformation, during the Jesus movement in the 70's and still miss him today. They control the things of the world but let the things of the Spirit slip through their hands.

Jesus was not a separatist. He associated with sinners and did not fear the venom of his critics. The question Jesus asked is not, “Are you good?” but, “Are you bad?” Jesus came to seek the lost.

We need to look at others through the eyes of Jesus. We need to see past people's problems and see their potential. Levi went from collecting money for Caesar to gathering in people for Jesus. He became a leader among Jesus’ followers and a powerful influence in spreading the Gospel throughout the world. 

Jesus said to them,  

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Mark 2:17