Closer Than I Think

Who Is Really Far from Jesus?

Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

— Matthew 21

There are people I have encountered, online and throughout my life, who have seemed profoundly hostile to Christianity. Some mock it. Some are angry at it. Some appear to want nothing whatsoever to do with Christians or their faith. And yet I have sometimes found myself thinking something strange about them: If the real Jesus simply walked into their world, I wonder how many of them would drop what they were doing and follow him.

Jesus seems to warn us against being too confident about who is close to him and who is far away. The tax collectors and prostitutes were hardly the people respectable religious observers would have expected to lead the procession into God's kingdom. Jesus wasn't declaring their behavior righteous. He explained that when John came in the way of righteousness, they believed him. The religious leaders did not. The people who appeared farthest away were responding while those who seemed closest remained where they were.

That leaves me wondering whether I sometimes mistake a person's outward appearance, anger, language, politics, lifestyle—or even hostility toward Christianity—for distance from Christ. I don't know what another person would do if truly confronted by him. I don't know whose heart is ready to say yes. The person ridiculing Christianity today may be closer to following Jesus than I imagine. More disturbingly, that person may be closer than I am.

And yes, following Jesus changes people. But perhaps I should be cautious about deciding beforehand exactly what that change will look like. Jesus may have considerable work to do in the person I have labeled lost. He may also have considerable work to do in the eyes with which I see that person. Perhaps one sign of my own transformation is that labels begin falling away and I start seeing a human being where I once saw only a category.

Earlier this week, we found Jesus sitting at Matthew's table with people whom respectable society had learned to classify. Now Jesus pushes the lesson farther. Some of the people I would least expect to find entering the kingdom may be going in ahead of me. Perhaps the question is not how far they are from Jesus. Perhaps the question is whether, when he says “Follow me,” I am still ready to get up and go.

Reflectionary is an ongoing conversation with Scripture. If these reflections are meaningful to you, please subscribe and come back often. And by all means, join the conversation—your questions, disagreements, insights and reflections are always welcome.