The Gospel Has a Welcome Mat
“And he had to go through Samaria.”
John 4:4
Despite the archaic language, the KJV may have a more clarifying and emphatic way of expressing this little verse: “And he must needs go through Samaria.” There was a must to the ministry of Jesus. He was unwavering and completely committed to His mission, which Paul explained was “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
Unbeknownst to the Samaritan woman who was coming to draw water from the well of Jacob, Jesus was on a specific mission beginning before time itself, to seek her out to reveal God’s amazing grace to her. She was doubtless a sinner, a woman guilty of infidelity and Jesus knew this, but where sin had left her “high and dry” Jesus came to give her the water of everlasting life. So great was this transaction that she left their conversation telling others about this wonderful Man she had met.
Churches are too often defined by locked doors and legalistic attitudes. The Word of God describes a holy God who deserves honorable worship and total obedience for those who know Him, but what good have we accomplished by denying ministry and mercy to those who don’t know Him yet?
A crucial and eye-opening revelation about the life of Jesus has long constrained me to rethink ministry: He would cross the street to minister to those who the religious world would cross the street to get away from. Read that again. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan?
The Church should be the “pillar and ground of truth,” the bastion of Biblical righteousness and holiness, but that truth is purposed to redeem the lost—and to reach them, we must go to them and open the doors wide for their fellowship, to answer their questions, to bear their burdens, to invest in them.
Jesus was a Friend of sinners. This doesn’t mean He affirmed sin. He loved (and loves) sinners. He wasn’t just hanging out with the lowly; He was drawing them out of the darkness and to His marvelous light. How better can we emulate this spirit than to throw the doors (of our churches, our homes, our lives) wide open, and let them in??
Christmas sounds like a perfect time for this!
SDG