“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered them, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:29-32)
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were not offended when Jesus taught sinners, but they were deeply troubled when he ate and drank with them. It’s important to understand that Jesus saw the healing of the spirit not in religious terms but in relational terms. He could have invited Levi and his friends into a rented hall for religious services, but instead (at great damage to his reputation) he joined them at their banquet. I want my church to understand that the call to repentance is not made from the outside, but from the inside. People must know Christians, not just Christianity, if they are going to change their thinking and turn towards the life that I’m offering them. Jesus broke almost every tenant of the Jewish religion when he went to that banquet, and today, followers of Jesus must also be willing to step out of their religious bubble and into the world of those who need him.
— July 1, 2020