Mercy beyond Belief (Part 3 of 3)

In our quest to follow the Merciful One and become merciful, we can be tripped up by things we don't realize hinder us. We can be sincerely off base and not even realize it. One common issue is in how to relate to the culture around us.

Christians often isolate completely or identify fully. How can we engage the culture without being tainted by it? Are we to disengage in separatism or or fully engage in identification? Should you immerse yourself in the culture in order to win some (become all things to all men?) or isolate so as not to be tainted (come out from their midst and be separate?). We tend to think in terms of there being only 2 alternatives. One is geographical: fear of contamination leads us to get as far away from some people as possible so we don’t get tainted by them. The other is practical: fear of irrelevance leads us to be fully immersed and identified, becoming one with them. Neither extreme is usually very helpful to our spiritual life or fruitful in making disciples.

There is a 3rd way: it’s a relational one. The first two options are easy, but you have to do some heavy lifting for this one, be on your toes, be prepared because you are in a spiritual battle. It is what some call Redemptive interaction: engage the culture personally while preserving God’s standards biblically. Being in the world but not of it, as Jesus alludes to in John 17:14-18. It is the idea Gal. 5:16 speaks of "walk by the Spirit and you will not carry our the desires of the flesh". That means you will go certain places and runt he risk of being misunderstood by some. It also may mean you will not go certain places and run the risk of being misunderstood by others.

The dinner party in Matthew 9 was on Matthew’s turf, focused on Jesus. It was a Christ-centered gathering. But Jesus and His men were misunderstood. Pharisees separated themselves thinking they were too holy. Fear of contamination. Jesus the Holy One engaged. We fear contamination or rejection, so we do not risk. Jesus always hits the sweet spot. Not isolation, purposeful engagement. Pharisees labeled people ‘sinners’ who did not meet their man-made standards of holiness. They created a special classification for those they disdained. There is great impact in Jesus associating with people whom the religious community rejected, and this serves as a reminder that you cannot use Jesus as an excuse to live in immorality and sinfulness while pretending to reach the lost.

Motive matters supremely. If we go places and hang out with people who are opposed to everything God stands for – if we mask it by saying we are trying to win them to Christ – but they do not know where we stand, or do not see any difference in our lives - we lie and deceive ourselves.

We must recognize something about the significance of table fellowship in those days. It was greater than it is to us. By sitting at table with these people, Jesus was showing acceptance and friendship (8:11). The Pharisees could not fathom anyone who wanted to be taken seriously who would lower themselves to associate with such immoral people. But that is precisely the point. Redemptive interaction is perfectly illustrated in the incarnation: Jesus humbled Himself by becoming one of us (Phil. 2) – to identify with sinful humanity while never tainted by it.

Jesus in saying He desires "mercy and not sacrifice" is saying the heart must be engaged and then the actions will follow. In essence He says, "My Church will be a place of Mercy. There will be blood to cover your sins and it will be Mine. My love overcomes the worst of sins and accepts those living on the fringe. I delight to choose unlikely subjects to show the miraculous wonder of mercy. Like Paul, a blasphemer and violent aggressor who persecuted the church yet became its greatest missionary and theologian. Like John, a son of thunder who became the apostle of love. Like Matthew, a despised insider living on the outskirts of Jewish life. Like you."

Soli Deo Gloria