Who Is He, Really?

I re-read Chasing The Dragon by Jackie Pullinger for the fifth time recently.  I found myself questioning if I would be able to view those drug addicts and prostitutes without despising them, if I would be able to live, breathe and eat with them without looking down on them, without any sort of “I’m-better-than-you” attitude. 

One thing dawned on me this time as I was re-reading the book.  Jesus never had a problem with sinners.  He came for them.  He was more than able to save and help the drug addicts, the prostitutes, the murderers, the rapists.  He couldn’t work in the lives of those who were self-righteous though — those who didn’t think they had sinned, or thought they were “alright”.  When He was on earth, the biggest problem He had were with the spiritual leaders of His day.  He called them hypocrites and brood of vipers, but He never once reprimanded the prostitutes or the tax collectors.  He only had kind words for them.   

The funny thing is the church today is so very unlike Jesus — not all of course, but many.  We are so very afraid of associating with “bad people” — with sinners.  Actually everyone on earth is a sinner, but what I mean is people with overt sins like committing adultery, murder, rape etc.  Big sins, in other words.  This is actually a man-made estimation.  There are no big sins or small sins with God.  Sin is sin.  Plain and simple.  Some churches also ask members to leave when they have committed some “big” sin.  But this is opposite of Jesus.  He always hung out with the scums of the earth in His time.  He never told them, “Go, put your life together.  Live a holy life, then come find me.”  I think we have got our doctrine upside down.  We tell people to live holy lives or leave the church.  We tell them to get their act together after they’re saved or leave the church.  But Jesus just gave people unconditional forgiveness, acceptance and love.  Living holy lives or good lives is a fruit.  It’s a result of receiving unconditional forgiveness and love.  

But we’ve represented Jesus as a fault-finder, a law-giver, a hard God in heaven recording down everything we ever did wrong.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  He himself took our punishment for ALL the wrongs we did.  He himself said He wouldn’t remember it.  Why on earth would He pay the price for all our wrongs and turn around and blame us and hold our wrongs against us again?  It doesn’t make sense.  I think we need to re-evaluate our portrayal of who He is.  I think we are far from showing who He really is.  Maybe because we do not really know who He is.  We cannot grasp the extent of His graciousness and love.  We cannot understand, because it’s not logical.