BE CONTAGIOUS: WEEK 3
Scott Bayles, pastor
Adapted from “Rubbing Shoulders with Irreligious People,” by Bill Hybels
and “Friend of Flops,” by Max Lucado
One day, while walking the streets of his home town Nazareth, Jesus came across a young man named Matthew sitting in his tax collector’s booth. Jesus paused for a moment, and then spoke those precious words that every young Jewish boy hoped to hear from a respected Rabbi but so few did: “Come, follow me” (Matthew 9:9). And Matthew did just that. He left his booth and his business behind and set out to follow Jesus.
What makes this invitation so surprising is the one invited—a tax collector. Combine the greed of an embezzling executive with the presumption of a hokey television evangelist, throw in the audacity of ambulance chasing lawyer, stir in a pinch of a pimp’s morality, and finish it off with a drug peddler’s code of ethics—and what do you have?
A first-century tax collector!
To be fair, I’m painting with a rather large brush. Not every tax collector was as slimy as the rest. But, according to the Jews, these guys were about as crooked as corkscrews. Caesar permitted these freelance IRS agents to tax just about anything—your boat, the fish you caught, your house, your crops. As long as Caesar got his cut, these tax collectors could overcharge as much as they wanted and line their pockets with the leftovers. They could tack on 10, 20, 30, 50 or even 100 percent—whatever they wanted—for their own profit. And if anyone didn’t pay up, they could dispatch a cohort of Romans soldiers to do their dirty work. They literally had a license for extortion.
But all that aside, Matthew—whatever his past—must have been ripe for the picking. Jesus hardly had to tug. “‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9 NLT). Within a punctuation mark, Matthew throws a huge party for all his tax-collecting buddies to announce that he’s closing up shop and signing up for a tour of duty with a Rabbi named Jesus! In the process Matthew—as well as Jesus—teach us some very important lessons in becoming a Contagious Christian! What I want to do this morning is dive right into this story and see what we can learn about being a contagious Christian.
• THE PARTY
It all begins when Matthew decides to throw a party. The Bible says, “Then Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus at his house. Many tax collectors and other people were eating there, too” (Luke 5:29 NCV). Let’s back up a step before we go any farther. What do you suppose led up to this party? Can you imagine Matthew going back to the tax collectors booth and packing up his office? Maybe his co-workers start asking him questions… “Where ya head Matt? The Missus kick you out or something?” Matthew doesn’t know what to say. Maybe he mumbles something about a career change, but he can’t get over the thought that he’s going miss these guys.
They’re not much. I mean, parents warn their daughters about guys like this. Salty language. Mardi Gras morals. But a friend is a friend, right? And being a disciple, meant leaving your friends, your family, your business (and in Matthew case, that was a very lucrative business) behind—in exchange for a life of following in the footsteps of some respected Rabbi.
Later that day, he meets up with Jesus and shares his problem. “It’s my buddies—you know, the guys at the office and the fellas at the tavern.”
“What about them?” Jesus asks.
“Well, I’m gonna miss those guys! I mean, nothing against Peter, James and John, Jesus… but they’re Sunday morning, and my buddies are Saturday night.”
I don’t know who thought of it first, but I’m inclined to believe that this little going-away party was Jesus’ idea. With a smile on his face, Jesus tells Matthew, “Well, how about we get the whole gang together one last time, I’d like to meet your friends!”
That night Matthew’s house is overflowing with both sinners and saints. And the best part is—no one is trying to determine who is which. And this was more than just a going-away party; it was a getting-to-know party! An evangelistic mixer. What I like to call an “outreach party.” Matthew was hoping and praying that Jesus and his fellow disciples might influence some of his tax-collecting buddies by just rubbing shoulders with them in a social setting. Maybe they could build some bridges. Maybe some hearts might be opened. He knew he was heaven bound and he wanted to take as many of his friends with him as he could!
• THE PHARISEES
But, wouldn’t you know it? An hour or so into the evening and the doors opens, and an icy wind blows in. Enter our party crashers—the Pharisees. The Bible says, “The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. ‘What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and sinners?’” (Luke 5:30 MSG).
These religious-police, with their false piety and clerical collars so tight their veins bulge, have a serious problem with Matthew’s little shin-dig. Their primary objection is the guest list. Their holier-than-thou attitude makes them very uncomfortable with the fact that Jesus is rubbing shoulders with the like of “tax collectors and other disreputable sinners” (Matthew 9:10).
You see, in their eyes, tax gatherers and other irreligious riffraff did not deserve time and attention from Jesus or from any respectable religious leader. All they saw in Matthew’s buddies were profane, greedy, immoral, worthless sinners. Certainly, no God-fearing person had any business rubbing shoulders with the likes of them. They were wicked, lost causes worthy of the everlasting destruction that awaited them. The hearts of the Pharisees had grown ice cold toward spiritually lost people.
Sadly, so have the hearts of some Christians. Occasionally, some “disreputable sinner” will darken the doorway of a church and quietly sink into the back row. But rather than being warmly welcomed with the love of Jesus, they’re met with cold shoulders and judgmental glances. Folks, that is not what Jesus wants from us. That’s not why he sacrificed his life! To paraphrase Mark Hall, if we are the body of Christ we need to be reaching out to spiritually lost people, we need to love them and introduce them to Jesus, the way Matthew did. Jesus paid much too high a price for use pick and choose who is or isn’t worthy of God’s love.
• THE PRINCIPLE
This brings us to the principle that Jesus wants us to learn. There is a moral to this story and Jesus tells us what that is: “Jesus answered them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent’” (Luke 5:31-32 NLT).
Jesus expands his point, saying, “Learn what this means: ‘I want mercy, not sacrifices’” (Matthew 9:13 GWT). In other words, there is more to the Christian life than just going through the routines and rituals—it’s more than just getting up, going to church, dropping some money in the collection plate and trying not to cuss so much. Genuine followers of Jesus have the goal of becoming increasingly compassionate toward spiritual lost, irreligious people.
What this all comes down to is—if you want to be a Contagious Christian, you can’t spend all your time with other believers. It’s important that we spend time with other Christians—encouraging one another, supporting each other, and building a closer community within the church—but, it’s also important for us to have regular contact and conversations with unchurched and unsaved people. Without a proper balance of contact with believers and unbelievers, it’s only a matter of time until our hearts grow cold toward people outside of God’s family.
Every member of God’s family needs to follow the principle and example that Jesus gives here and take time to “rub shoulders” with unbelievers. At a pastor’s conference some time ago, the speaker asked about four hundred pastors, “When was the last time any of you have even had one dinner with a non-Christian? Has even one pastor from this whole groups shared a meal with someone who is spiritually lost and far from God in the last year?” There was a very awkward and uncomfortable silence that followed that question.
How about you? Does your life consist almost entirely of Christian relationships, so that you just barely have contact with unchurched people anymore? If so, that’s trouble. It’s trouble for you, for them and for the church. You really might be the critical link for someone. You might be the only respectable, high-integrity Christian some people in and around your life will ever know. You may be the only Bible they will ever read.
With the time that I have left, let me try to seed your mind with a few ideas.
• PRACTICAL TIPS
We’ll talk about these more at during the Becoming a Contagious Christian seminar October 15-16, but I want to share a few practical tips on how to start interacting with spiritually lost people.
First, and most obviously, start with the people you already have a relationship with—your family, neighbors, and other friends. One of the best ways to start reaching out to people in your neighborhood or extended family is by doing just what Matthew. Throw a party. Have a barbeque. Invite both Christians and non-Christians, but be strategic in who you choose to invite. Look for Christians that you know are passionate about their faith and unafraid to start spiritual conversations, and let them know what you’re doing ahead of time. You don’t want to force something to happen; rather, you just want to have fun and let those spiritual conversations develop on their own. But remember, it’s important to build bridges—barbeque first, take time to get to know someone, then talk to them about spiritual things.
Another important opportunity to rub shoulders with unbelieving people is at the workplace. It’s discouraging when I hear Christians complain that they are surrounded by unbelievers at work. I think some of us have forgotten what it means to be salt and light. My suggestion is this—don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed if the odds seem stacked against you; instead, just identify one or two co-workers that you have some rapport with and in whom you sense a little spiritual openness, and then start spending a little more time with them. Try taking your breaks or your lunch hours with them and look for openings for spiritual conversations.
One more great group of people to strike up spiritual conversations with are the folks with whom you have shared interests or hobbies. Just a couple weeks ago, we held the Sportsman’s Day and Hunting Truth seminar for hunters in our area. If you’re a hunter or a hunter’s wife, then you’ve already got some common interests with other hunters that could lead into spiritual conversations. Like I’ve mentioned before, our hobby of costuming and going to comic-conventions has given our family ample opportunities to rub shoulders with unchurched and unsaved people. When you already share one interest or passion with someone, it’s not hard to find openings to talk about your other passions—such as following Jesus.
The list could go on and on—and we will give you more complete list at the actual seminar. But we have opportunities galore. There’s no shortage of people we can reach out to. And remember, God doesn’t normally place the full burden of leading someone all the way from beginning to end on just you alone. There will be a whole chain of influences and conversations that precede a person’s choice to follow Christ. Your job is just to be one link in that chain—to spark spiritual interest and start conversations that point people to Jesus. Remember the process that Paul described: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6 NIV).
Let me end with this story. A woman in a small Arkansas community was a single mom with a frail baby. Her neighbor would stop by every few days and keep the baby so the mom could go shopping. After a few weeks, her neighbor shared more than her time; she shared her faith, and the mom did what Matthew did—she followed Jesus.
The friends of the young mother objected, “Do you know what those people teach?”
“Here’s what I know,” she told them. “They held my baby.”
I think Jesus likes that kind of answer, don’t you?
Conclusion:
For all our members, if you haven’t signed up for the Becoming a Contagious Christian training course, please do it today. And in the meantime would you be looking for people to strike up spiritual conversations with? And if you already have a good relationship with them—remember “barbecue first”—then would you invite them to church with you in two weeks? That Sunday, I’ll be preaching a message that explains the basics of how to have a relationship with God through Jesus.
Invitation:
And if you’re a visitor with us today trying to sort all this out, let me state what I hope is obvious: this church takes seriously Jesus’ command to love God and love people. We are here to serve you and help you work through all your spiritual questions. Get to know some of the people in the pew next to you. Tell them where you’re at spiritually and what you need to figure out. And in the meantime, let’s all stand and sing together church!
