Jesus: Friend of sinners

There's a song we sing sometimes at church that speaks about the name of Jesus. From memory it says:

Jesus, what a beautiful name, Son of God, Son of Man, Lamb that was slain...

When I think of all the names that we associate with Jesus, the one that most touched my heart is not a name, it's an insult: Friend of sinners.

The religious people used this to describe Jesus because they thought he spent too much of his time mixing with the wrong people. In fact they even suggested that he couldn't be who he claimed to be on account of the people with whom he chose to spend his time.

The argument went something like this:

If you've come from God then you should know who you're dealing with. You should know that this woman or that man is not a good person. They don't keep the rules, they don't use the right language, they aren't acceptable. If you are who you claim to be, you should not be friends with those kinds of people.

Sound familiar?

How often does has the church said something similar in the past?

I remember when I first came to Christ how I was warned about the potential negative influence of spending too much time with non-Christians. If I did spend time with them, then it was strictly evangelistic, and if I spent too much time with them I was probably falling away from faith.

My hope these days is that the church becomes known as a safe place for "sinners". I hope that one day our reputation will not be for being too religious but simply of being a friend to those who need a friend.

Cotton End Baptist Church, friend of sinners. It has a nice ring to it don't you think.