Luke 15:1-2 CSB – All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him. And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
This brief passage often gets overlooked, yet it captures a powerful truth about how Jesus engaged with people and how He intended His followers to engage with them as well. The Pharisees and scribes were offended because Jesus showed dignity and compassion to people they viewed as unworthy, which ran against everything they valued socially and religiously. Their perspective had been shaped by a culture that treated visible sin as something that justified rejection rather than something that merited mercy. Sadly, that same mindset has woven its way into parts of modern Christian culture, and far too often we enable it by failing to mirror the example Christ set.
Several years ago, I saw this play out in a church I attended when a homeless man walked through the doors shortly before the service began. His clothes were worn, he hadn’t been able to keep himself clean, and he carried most of his belongings in a backpack. Instead of being welcomed with warmth and asked how we could help, he was met with suspicion and escorted to a back room so that a pastor could speak with him away from the rest of the congregation. I later learned that he simply wanted to attend church, and because nearly everyone in the building viewed him with distrust, he was denied the chance to worship with us. We never saw him again, and that memory still grieves me. I regret to admit that I shared the same suspicion at the time. He wasn’t familiar, he didn’t fit our expectations, and we were all worried about what others might think. In those moments, I wasn’t just passive. I was enabling a response that contradicts the heart of Christ.
Yet the verse above shows us plainly how Jesus handled people whom others rejected. He welcomed them. He shared meals with them. He created space for them to be near Him, to listen, to learn, and to feel seen. His example leaves no room for a posture of exclusion. We’re called to embrace people with generosity, to offer our time, our resources, and our presence in ways that reflect the grace He extended to everyone who approached Him. When we practice that kind of hospitality, we participate in the work of Christ and reveal His love in ways that words alone can’t accomplish.