Jesus went to the non-believing world rather than wait for them to come to him.
He crossed the gulf from heaven to earth to reach them rather than expect them to cross the chasm between their sinfulness and his righteousness on their own.
He loved them in their rebellion rather than wait for them to get their act together before loving them.
He lived among them, walked with them along the way, and discussed faith with them rather than hang out with them only in religious activities and synagogue events.
He welcomed their questions rather than ridicule them as faithlessness.
He spoke raw truth to them with deep affection rather than speak to them in religious clichés marked with superficiality.
He experienced the force of every one of their temptations, yet without sin, rather than just speak of their temptation from a “holy distance.”
He modeled obedience for them rather than just denounce them for their disobedience.
He loved them in the present and challenged them to prepare for the future rather than simply criticize them for their past.
He saw them as people created in the image of God and in need of him—regardless of what they had done—rather than view them as his evangelistic “projects.”
He loved them with his presence rather than with only his words.
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Jesus came so that non-believers who turned to him in repentance and trust might have new life, both here and in eternity. At the same time, though, he reserved some of his harshest words not for those non-believers, but for the religious leaders who themselves were hypocritical . . . who arrogantly looked down on others not like them . . . and who condemned him for eating and drinking with sinners.
I don’t know about you, but I can be (and have been at times over the years) more like those religious leaders than I care to admit. I, like others I’ve known in the church, can sometimes be more like Jesus was not than like he was.
That’s not what I want to be; rather, I want to be like Jesus.
No matter the risk.
No matter the cost.
For the sake of his glory, and for the good of those who need to know him.
