Jesus Mingled With People

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the August 6, 2016 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Mark 6:34, NIV

Today we live in an urbanized society and over seven billion people cover the face of the earth. It isn’t hard therefore to find a crowd. In many places one need only walk outside their front door. In New York City, with its tall skyscrapers, only a few blocks may hold as many people as my entire county of Spokane, Washington. Although I have not traveled there, I understand there are so many people in some parts of Africa that no matter what hour of the day or night, you can look out of your home and find lots of people walking to and fro. We no longer live in the time of the pioneers in the United States where the nearest neighbor may have been miles away. Even for those in remote places like Alaska, it is becoming harder for the self-styled hermit to find seclusion as even out in the tundra, someone might show up at your front door on an All-Terrain Vehicle as they “explore” the wilderness.

Mingling has become less something intentional and more a fact of life, inescapable and frequent. It may include brief chats with cashiers or other customers waiting in line at the cash register in the supermarket. People may come to our door, selling a product or a service. When we visit the hairstylist or barber, conversation is usually part of the experience. Many times, every week, we mingle, but how does our understanding of the life of Jesus inform our mingling? There are several ways we can respond to this frequent socializing, but perhaps not all are Christ-like.

IF we see the presence of others as a threat, we may respond negatively to the interaction. Every day in much of the world, we are bombarded with a never ending feed from news media about how terrible the world is. From suicidal terrorists blowing themselves up among crowds of innocents to insane cultists who behead those who do not agree with their religious perversion, the media seems to delight in presenting tales with rivers of blood flowing.  Reporting of horrible and vicious assaults, apparently with racial motivation, also spread fear among entire races and cultures. Memories of these events are long. The Crusades, which began almost a thousand years ago, still bring a strong reaction from Islamic countries. From the opposite religious perspective, the Armenian and Greek genocides committed by Turkey make it very difficult for those groups to look past their history. But how do we fulfil the Gospel Commission[i] if walls of hatred and fear separate us?

Our natural response to all of this manufactured fear is to become isolationist, to keep the threats at a distance. Feeling safe behind the buffers of two large oceans, Americans were relatively unaffected by the fear of the atrocities committed foreign soil. However the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001 revealed that those oceanic walls were penetrable. Suddenly we did not feel so safe, and further attacks on Western civilization have continued to fan those flames of terror. As a result, we have become involved in what is shaping up to be never-ending war in the Levant, something the Israelis are far too familiar with. Some of this may find its roots in the Quran and the Hadith which teach the idea of total war to spread the dogmas of Islam. Other causes may be related to the betrayal and arbitrary borders that were all rooted in the geopolitics of World War One. And as previously stated some causes may even be found in the Crusades that began in the eleventh century.

But fear is not only limited to international threats. Some also fear the spiritual threats at home. These are characterized in myriad ways. Although we all are sinners,[ii] we appear to find it easier to tolerate our own sins than those of others. Our fear may cause us to hide behind the walls of the institutional church, convincing ourselves that the “rotten apples” in our barrel are somehow better and safer than those “out there.” When we discover the truth of universal sin and how it not only affects the person in the pew next to us but also all the way up to the very pinnacle of power, the resulting shock can shake us to the very foundations of our faith. At the very least, it may demonstrate the error of Citadel Theology which views the church as a safe haven from the ways of the world. This is not only dangerous because we tend to let our guard down when we feel safe, but it also may prevent us from engaging in personal evangelism. We may choose instead to encourage others such as clergy or professional evangelists to assume the entire burden. Donating to these individual’s causes can become a way of establishing a safety buffer between ourselves and the threatening world. However, it greatly diminishes the numbers of those making contact and mingling with the lost souls that surround us. Perhaps this fear of contact with the world is a root cause of single digit growth rate percentages for most denominations, including our own.

A second way we can respond to social interaction is to do all we can to promote it. Whatever our neighbors might be doing, we jump right in the middle and make sure we are doing it twice as much to ensure our acceptance socially. We may tell ourselves this will make it easier to introduce our friends and neighbors to Jesus. After all, the more social interaction the more opportunities, right? Numerically this may make sense, but if we are bending over backwards to find acceptance by being like everyone else, how might it affect our witness? What will we say if the conversation goes something like this?

“Have you ever thought of giving your heart to Jesus?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means an about face, a change in lifestyle for the better.”

“Your lifestyle is no different from mine. Have you given you heart to Jesus?”

“No we ARE different. Haven’t you noticed that I don’t smoke cigarettes?”

“So you are saying that the difference between following Jesus and not following him is whether or not I smoke cigarettes? Do you think everyone that smokes is going to hell?”

“Well, no, not exactly.”

“Well then, if I can avoid hell in spite of smoking, and you are doing everything else I am doing, then it seems to simply be a matter of saying I’m a Christian and I will be just like you.”

At this point, both individuals may be confused. The Christian may be confused about how lifestyle can conflict with witness, but the non-Christian may be confused about why his friend is making a big deal about it after all this time that they have been living pretty much the same lives. Perhaps attempting to be a chameleon, blending in everywhere, complicates rather than enhances our ability to bring Jesus to others. After all, if we are indistinguishable from everyone else except for a few quirks like smoking or diet, what are we then bringing to the witnessing table?

Perhaps the third way demonstrated by Jesus is the better path. Jesus never lost sight of who He was or what His purpose was when He mingled with those around Him. He did not shun social contact for fear of contamination, even though that was the popular approach of the religious leaders of the day. They ostracized tax collectors, prostitutes, and thieves, but Jesus had all three in His retinue. However, even though Jesus demonstrated His love for them, He did not try to become like them. Instead He invited them to follow His example. Recognizing that Jesus was NOT like them, they were nonetheless drawn to the difference from their lives that He represented. The trappings of their lives had become burdensome, and He offered them rest from those burdens.[iii] Because we all are sinners, our lives are filled with poor choices, and we often have many resulting character flaws. We carry a load of guilt over these failings. We hide the guilt in many ways. We may keep ourselves so exhaustingly busy that we do not have time to think about our lives and what we have done. Others may self-medicate those thoughts of guilt away with drugs or alcohol. Some may open themselves up to manipulation by others by trying to find approval in others that they cannot give themselves because of damage to their self-esteem. When we recognize these things in ourselves, we can perhaps understand the great need for answers to these painful feelings, answers that Jesus can provide. If they do not see the difference that the peace and grace of Christ has made in our lives, but instead see only a mirror image of themselves, we may not only have deceived ourselves about mingling, but failed them as well. We may become like salt that has lost its saltiness.[iv]

 

 



[i] Matthew 28:18-20

[ii] Romans 3:10

[iii] Matthew 11:28

[iv] Matthew 5:13

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this commentary, you might also enjoy this book by the author.

To learn more click on this link.
Romans: Law and Grace

 

 

 

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Scripture marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

 

 

 

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