I've been reflecting on something that was a focus in last Sunday's sermon - the idea that the church (understandably) treats sin as something that we need to condemn, judge and distance ourselves from. Unfortunately, in the process, we often end up treating sinners as people to be judged and pushed away (which creates a serious inner contradiction, given that we too are sinners!) Jesus, by contrast, doesn't keep his distance or judge - he responds with compassion to sinful, broken people and looks to heal rather than condemn.
Religious people in Jesus' time grappled with the same tension. Here is Mark's account:
"When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: 'Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?' On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" (Mark 2:16-17)
We have a choice then - we can either be confident, self-sufficient Pharisees, or be vulnerable enough to acknowledge that we need a doctor and then be gracious to the other patients in his waiting room :)