thoughts are free

"The person who says that he or she dislikes the church because it is full of sinners or hypocrites makes the erroneous assumption that we in the church are embarrassed by our clientele. We are not any more embarrassed over our collection of sinners than a hospital is ashamed of its sick people. Sinners, hypocrites, men of little faith, outcasts, the sick, and hurting people were the ones who clustered around Jesus. This rather seedy cast of characters made Jesus not the least bit uncomfortable. They were precisely the reason why Jesus was in the world. Besides, as someone has suggested, today’s hypocrites may not be like that self-righteous Pharisee who paraded into the temple while the humble publican stayed outside and prayed, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.” The new hypocrite may be those outside the church who pray, “God, I thank thee that I am not like all those sinful and hypocritical people in the church."

~ The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything, William H. Willimon