08/28/2022
As men and women called by God, and sent by Jesus to spread the good news of His Gospel, it is more than disappointing that out of fear we are reluctant to carry this treasure of life to those who need it most. We will readily face hardship and even death to preach the good news from a hillside, but we shy away from engaging directly with those whose sin is repugnant to us, or we feel is an abomination to God. We fear their sin will taint us in some way, bring criticism upon us, or defile us, so by our fear we leave them untouched, and God’s gift undelivered, dooming the most needy to face a sinner’s death. When we look at ourselves, is this who we see?
“And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.””
Mark 7:14-15 ESV
We listen to these words of Jesus as He spoke about eating food that Jewish law had made unclean, but this was a parable, and its meaning reaches much further than a Gentile’s table.
“And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)”
Mark 7:17-19 ESV
What frightens us, and keeps us from delivering the gospel to the most wretched and sinful people in society, and the world, isn’t the sin in them, but our fear of what other believers might think of us, and that their sin will somehow infect, or defile, us.
Several years ago my wife and I visited some friends in the Florida Keys. They had a nice condominium there on Isla Mirada, and we had a wonderful time. While there we drove down to Key West and spent a couple of days and a night exploring places like Earnest Hemingway’s house, the lighthouse museum, and many other sights. Well it quickly became clear to us that Key West had a large LGBTQ population, and after we watched the sunset from Sunset Pier on Duval Street we ate dinner, and walked back to the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying. To get there we had to walk along Duval Street, but after the sun goes down this street becomes a raucous place with doors to transvestite bars thrown open, and men dressed as women standing in doorways beckoning passerby’s to enter. We walked past these places quickly, but as we approached the street that would take us away from this scene, and toward our B&B, we saw three women dressed in long flowing gowns standing on the sidewalk ahead of us. As we came closer it became clear that they were young men dressed as fairies, and each was holding a wand. When we reached them we stepped closer to the curb and quickly walked by without making eye contact, but as we passed, one of them shouted laughingly after us: “What! Are you afraid that if we touched you with our wands you might become gay?”
At the time I was appalled, and kept walking, but since that day I have thought about the question that young man yelled after us, and yes, I guess I was afraid to interact with these men; even to the point that I wasn’t willing to stop and engage them regarding the Gospel, and what it said about their sexual behavior. Was I afraid that what was outside of me might defile me? Was I afraid of what my friends might think if I stopped and spoke to them about Jesus Christ? In fact, I was willing to abandon these men to their sin and to the death it would bring them… and I did this without so much as a word.
“And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.””
Mark 7:20-23 ESV
Jesus sat with, and dined with, sinners, but He was not defiled by them. He called these men to God, and spoke to them of healing their souls. We don’t like to think about it, but we still have scribes and Pharisees today, and they continue to admonish us for engaging modern day sinners as we teach them about Jesus.
“And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””
Mark 2:14, 16 ESV
I used to justify my actions that night in Key West by saying that this particular sin (homosexuality) was an abomination to God, and He hated it. I excluded all other sin believing it to be different, but then I read that I too was an abomination because even a lie is an abominable act. Listen to Proverbs and then let’s ask ourselves if we are too righteous to dine with a particular sinner, or to speak to them about having faith in Christ…
“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”
Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
Are we afraid? Are we judging others who go into places where sin abounds to witness to the sick and dying? What does it mean to us when Jesus asks us to go into the world and deliver the gospel? Are we limiting our witness to those who are well, and those who we feel are marginally ill, or do we sit down readily with the dying, and those that most might consider contagious?
“but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.”
1 Peter 4:5-6 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for breathing your Holy Spirit upon us, and opening our eyes to the sick and dying around us who need to know you, and hear the gospel of Jesus. Thank you for your love and grace that allows us to see past the abomination of sin in those around us, and to discount the criticism of our modern day scribes and Pharisees who seek to keep us from the very homes, and tables, of sinners who are in need of faith, and believing in you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who wants none to be lost, but all to be saved. Praised be your name for every opportunity we are presented to deliver the gospel, and speak of you. Help us to be faithful in so doing, and give us the words to speak that will transform the hearts of the lost. Wash us daily in the blood of Jesus, and cleanse us of all sin we have come in contact with. Make us presentable to you, and give us the strength to resist the temptation of the world as you shield us from its evil. Merciful are you who sends us to redeem lost souls for you, and great is your love that calls the abominable to perfection through Jesus… even removing the abominations from us in the process. Find us worthy when we stand before you in judgement, and see only the perfection of Jesus when you look into our eyes. Made clean in this way, and judged pure in Christ, seat us eternally at your table. Hear our praise and worship forevermore!
Rich Forbes