If Jesus did not separate Himself from sinners, why would we? This is one of the most challenging applications of Jesus’ baptism. He entered into the mess of human sin and shame. He built relationships with tax collectors, touched lepers, spoke with the woman at the well, and welcomed the woman caught in adultery. His entire ministry was marked by intentional engagement with those far from God.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: the longer we are Christians, the harder this becomes. We naturally gravitate away from the broken and the struggling. We prefer to be with people who have their lives together, or at least who look like they do. We develop comfortable Christian circles and rarely venture beyond them.
But remember: someone once waded into your life when you were lost. Someone did not give up on you when you were obnoxious, difficult, or far from God. They kept showing up, kept loving you, kept pointing you to Christ. Now it is your turn.
Following Jesus’ example does not mean compromising our convictions. It means getting uncomfortable sometimes. It means going places that might be messy, building relationships with people who are far from God, not so that we can become like them, but so that we can point them to Christ.