From the Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey: As my class in Chicago read the gospels and watched movies about Jesus’ life, we noticed a striking pattern: the more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons. In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from the more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness. I remarked to the class how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth. What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus’ day? Why don’t sinners like being around us?

I think that is a fair question and although I am sure there are churches where the poor, the broken, and overt sinners feel welcome, I am also fairly certain that those churches would be the exception. If Jesus, indeed, came to heal the broken hearted and set captives free (Isa.61:1-4); if God is, indeed, close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psm.35:18): and if God calls on us to, “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psm.82:3-4) then why aren’t these folks breaking down the doors of the church to get in and why did they respond to Jesus is such a welcoming way?

I have many thoughts on Yancey’s question but I will just share two of them at this time. First of all, Jesus went to the brokenhearted, the sinners, and the irreligious and did not simply put up a sign and wait for them to come to him. No doubt, Jesus went to the religious Jews as well because he was often in the temple compound and in synagogues but he also walked the streets of Jewish and Samaritan cities and rubbed shoulders with the sick, the leprous, tax collectors, hookers, and drunks. Jesus did not participate in their sin but he initiated contact, listened to their stories, and offered solutions. To those who were broken by life and sin he offered hope rather than condemnation. For many, the paradigm of grace that Jesus offered and demonstrated was life changing. Most churches put up a sign to welcome all those who need Jesus but rarely develop relationships with the down-and-outs of their community by going to the poor and broken rather than simply waiting for them to show up on Sundays.

Now let me tell you why I think the church avoids the deeply broken, the addicted, the junkies, the hookers, and the demonized of our society. In most cases, I don’t think it is a lack of concern or compassion or a Pharisee-like self-righteousness. Instead, I think it is a deep feeling of inadequacy and a sense that we really don’t have solutions for the homeless, the junkies, and the broken-hearted of our communities so to open our doors would overwhelm us as the needy of our society poured in like refuges crossing the border of a war-torn third world nation. Additionally, I think the pour and the broken themselves stay away from us because they sense we have no real answers for them either.

So what answers did Jesus have? First, there was hope – not just for the world to come but for this life as well. Mary Magdalene had her life changed forever and became a constant companion of the disciples and the mother of Jesus after seven demons were cast out of her. The demoniac who lived among the tombs went from being a homeless lunatic to a man dressed and in his right mind within an hour of encountering the church (Jesus and the twelve). Undoubtedly he became a useful member of society after that. For sure he became the president of the Messianic Evangelistic Association in Decapolis. Tax collectors turned from extortionists to philanthropists in their communities after encounters with Jesus and beggars who received healing got work and paid taxes after jumping to their feet. Jesus had answers for the poor, the down-and-outs, the demonized, the depressed, and sinners so he did not avoid them but took the good news to them. When they heard that he had real answers they also flocked to him.

When the church begins to experience the power of God once again and begins to offer that power outside the walls of the church, I believe the pattern of Jesus’ day will return. The very religious will, no doubt, continue to be offended but the unsavory characters of the world will feel comfortable in our presence because we will feel adequate in their presence. When the word gets out, they will also come to where Jesus is being demonstrated and may even dig a hole in someone’s roof to experience Jesus of Nazareth once again. He lives in each of us and is yearning to get out.