After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. – Luke 5:27-28

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 25, 2020): Luke 5

One of the lines that I hear, but don't really like, is 'I was never brought up that way.' Usually, the phrase appears in a conversation that is touching on religious points. "I was never brought up that way' is meant to denote that there are some people that were raised to accept religious ideas – and some that weren't. Or maybe more precisely, some people have a Christian potential, while others simply don't.

What amazes me is that as we read the story of Jesus, the situation seems to be the reverse. This isn't the story of Jesus reaching out to people that have been brought up to be extremely religious. The religious (and an excellent example of this group is found in the presence of the Pharisees) seemed to reject Jesus and his teaching. Their upbringing in religious circles didn't seem to make Jesus more attractive.

Jesus's message was accepted by those that didn't seem to have been 'brought up that way.' As a result, Jesus issued the challenge 'follow me' to some very unlikely people. And what is maybe even more surprising is that these unlikely people said yes. Tax Collectors, prostitutes – people who had been scorned by religious society and who had no real idea of what it meant to be a God-fearer because they had chosen a different way, said yes to the invitation to be with Jesus. When Jesus issued the challenge, they followed.

My question is, "what happened to the church?" When did we make the transition from being a faith that reaches out to those who never considered themselves to be religious, to a body that encourages its followers to act like Pharisees? Has the contemporary church lost its edge? The comment 'I was never brought up that way' seems to be more of a problem now than in the early church. Is it possible that that is because we have lost our way and have ceased to be the church that Jesus envisioned?

It is a big question, but at the base of it is a desire to be a church that the antireligious like and can understand – a church built on love and the desire to heal hurting lives. We still have a chance to make a church where hurting people who have 'never been brought up that way' can find healing. But to get there, we will have to pay attention to the Tax collectors living in our midst.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 2

See Also Matthew 9:9