Everyone who knows anything about the gospels—and even those who
Luke 15:2).
Jesus clearly recognized that one of the insults hurled against him was
that he was “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners!” (Luke 7:34).
As Christians we love to sing of this Pharisaical put-down because it
means that Jesus is a friend to sinners like us. We also find ourselves
challenged by Jesus’ example to make sure we do not turn away outsiders
in a way that Jesus never would.
As precious as this truth is—that Jesus is a friend of sinners—it,
like every other precious truth in the Bible, needs to be safeguarded
against doctrinal and ethical error. It is all too easy, and amazingly
common, for Christians (or non-Christians) to take the general truth
that Jesus was a friend of sinners and twist it all out of biblical
recognition. So “Jesus ate with sinners” becomes “Jesus loved a good
party,” which becomes “Jesus was more interested in showing love than
taking sides,” which becomes “Jesus always sided with religious
outsiders,” which becomes “Jesus would blow bubbles for violations of
the Torah.” Continue at Kevin DeYoung
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