Separate

Text: Matthew 9:9. “Then as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ And he arose and followed him.”

Introduction  

     When Jesus called Matthew to follow Him that tax collector was suddenly on his way to better things. His relationship with Jesus would lead him to eternal life. In the mean time, all things were about to become new for Matthew. (2^nd Cor. 5:17). For starters, he would have both a new employer and new companions. (2^nd Cor.  5:20). However, was Matthew supposed to just walk away from the world out of which he was being delivered? Did he abandon his cohorts, as if he didn’t care about their fate?

The answer to both questions is no! Matthew was being called to prepare him as an evangelist. What better place could he find to begin his witness for Christ than among people he knew?

Friendly Christians

     In his book, “Disciples Are Made – Not Born,” Walter A. Henrichsen said evangelism begins with becoming friends with worldly people.

Think about it for a moment. Can we expect every non-Christian we meet to believe what we have to say about Jesus when they know very little about us? It’s unusual to find receptive audiences for radical ideas among strangers. Ordinarily we must gain a man's confidence before he will consider accepting our advice.

Limited involvement

     I cannot advise Christians to move in with sinners. The Apostle Paul didn’t either. He said, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (1 Cor. 6:14) and  “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.” (2 Cor.  6:17). However, although Christians are not supposed to get too chummy with worldly people, we cannot ignore them altogether. We simply cannot be Christ’s ambassadors in the world if we isolate ourselves from it.

Look at John 17:15, where Jesus said “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.” Jesus does not want us to become entangled in the sinful practices of our neighbors. He does want us to witness to them.

Be like Christ

     Christ’s disciples were called and trained to do the things He did. The quote from John 17 was part of a prayer Jesus prayed - for them and for us. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.  I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” (John 17:14-20).

In the world

     Although we should not be worldly-minded we must live in the world in order to complete the task Jesus left us. He only began the process of evangelism. He expects us to bring lost ones to Him for salvation.

While He was here Jesus spent a lot of time with worldly people - both to take the gospel to lost and to train His disciples to do some training of their own. You and I are included in His John 17 prayer. We are among those he mentioned in verse 20, the ones who would “believe in Him through” the Disciples “word.” He does not want us removed from the world that needs our witness. If we are to help them, they must see our witness in action.

Total separation precludes success

     In the book mentioned earlier Mr. Henrichsen said, “Too many evangelicals interpret 'separation from the world' as meaning separation from worldly people.  Evangelism begins with becoming friends with worldly people.” In other words, the “world” from which we must be separated is not people; it is the satanic inspired system that motivates people to live in rebellion to God's authority.

We are supposed recruit sinners who have not been saved. We cannot do that by avoiding them. We must go to places where they are, just as missionaries do. It's difficult to witness to lost ones in church simply because they don’t go there. It's much more practical to try reaching them where they live, and work, and play.

The Publican

     Now let's get back to Matthew, who called himself a “Publican.” (Matt. 10:3, KJV).  The NKJV renders  “publican”  “tax collector.” Matthew was a Hebrew from the tribe of Levi.  Mark and Luke refer to him as “Levi” in their accounts of this same incident. (Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-32). Tax collectors were not looked on with favor by the Jews of Matthew’s day. He, like them, was despised as an employee of the Roman Government.

Text in context

     Let's read the text again, in context. (Mat. 9:9-13 from the NKJV): “Then as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, “Follow Me.” And He arose and followed Him.   And so it was, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means; 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”  

Matthew’s response

     Matthew may have been surprised when Jesus called him to be one of His Disciples but he didn’t hesitate. The record indicates he responded immediately. He did not abandon his associates. Verse 10 speaks about Jesus at dinner in a house.  Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-32 indicate the house belonged to Matthew. So Matthew must have given a dinner party for the Publicans.  

Matthew did it right.  He was called to follow his Lord and he obeyed.  He quit his job, left everything behind, and began to follow Jesus full time. But he did so only after making this formal announcement of his decision. He did not just walk away, as if he didn't care whether or not his former friends ever found Jesus. 

Interference

      Don’t let your involvement with the organized church hamper your efforts to win the lost. Remember why you are here and what God wants from you. Your primary responsibility is to the One who gave His life for you. The teaching of your church should not hinder you; it should encourage you to win lost souls wherever you find them.

Unfortunately, church members and pastors can be like the Pharisees -who complained when Jesus and His disciples ate with tax collectors and other sinners. (Verse 11). Those people, who may only want to shield Christians from contamination by the world, effectively shield lost sinners from the saving influence of Christians.

Attitude

     The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were not right with God. Several accounts in the Gospels point out their sinful acts and attitudes as they tried so hard to discredit Jesus. They were justified in calling Publicans sinners. Tax-collecting duties were assigned to men who kept what ever they managed to collect over and above Rome’s assessment. But the Pharisees were more concerned with giving Jesus a bad time than with seeing thieving sinners ostracized from polite society.

     1.  How did Jesus respond to the criticism?

          He reminded the complainers of His mission. He came as the healer of sin-sick souls.  He told them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Verse 12).  Verse 13 adds this: “But go and learn what this means:  I desire mercy and not sacrifice.  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

     2. What did Jesus mean?

          Exactly what He said.  He desired mercy rather than sacrifice - from men as well as to them.  That idea was expressed as an Old Testament theme many times.  Hosea 6:6 says, “God desires mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” 1st Samuel 15:22 asks, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

Pharisees, and other religionists, have always been willing to sacrifice in order to obtain salvation, but they usually do no more than they feel is necessary. Their obedience to God is motivated by fear. It does not stem from love for Him and it has little, if anything, to do with showing mercy to men.

Obedience pleases God; sacrifice appeases Him. Jesus summed up God's requirements in two commandments that call men to love God completely and to love other men as themselves. (Matt. 22:37-40). If the Pharisees had obeyed those two rules they would have loved the Publicans, and the other sinners who ate at Matthew's house, and they would have wanted those sinners to meet Jesus. By the same token, when a Christian loves lost sinners as Jesus did he will seek them out as Jesus did. Hopefully, his pastor will encourage him in the process.

It’s our job

     When Jesus returned to heaven at the ascension He left His followers behind to evangelize the world. We did a pretty good job of it in the first century but we’ve failed miserably since. I see our failure as a two-pronged misconception based on a faulty idea of religion.  We didn’t understand the need to love sinners, and we didn’t understand how the church should be separated from the world.

First, God offers mercy to all sinners under judgment. No one deserves His mercy. He offers it is a gift to all who will accept it on His terms, whether or not you and I approve.

God is love.  All of His actions are motivated by love and He wants each Christian to become a partaker of His nature. (2 Peter 1:4). We should love as He loves, by choice, not only showing mercy to men who do not deserve it, but actually wanting God's best for them and going out of our way to see they receive it.

Second, for some strange reason (probably conditioning) many Christians feel that attending the regularly scheduled services of their churches is all God requires of them. This single function satisfies their total need to be “religious.”  One result is their lack of performance as Christ’s witnesses in real life.

James 1:27 describes the kind of religion God likes. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Did you notice? That statement says nothing about attending religious ceremonies of any kind.

Christians can profit from church services where edification, exhortation and comfort are available. (1 Cor. 14:3). But church attendance does not satisfy God's requirement for service, to Himself or to the world He longs to redeem. Our duty includes taking the message of salvation to places where sinners dwell.  Most sinners won't come to us until they realize we have what they need.

The world desperately needs the witness of Christians who have been shut away in churches by well meaning but misguided pastors. It also needs the witness of Christians who prefer to be shut away and have used the program of a local church as an excuse for not obeying the Lord.

The church’s purpose

     The average local church of today specializes in meetings where its congregation gathers together for one reason or another - and that isn't all bad.Church members need teaching and Christian fellowship – both of which may actually be available in their gatherings on occasion. However, as Ephesians 4:7-16 indicates, the primary mission of the local church involves preparing, and sending out, ambassadors for Christ; not only to foreign mission fields but into the lives of people in the communities where the churches are located.

It’s wrong for local churches to keep their members too busy (maintaining programs and attending functions), and unable to become involved with sinners who need the Savior). That kind of practice leads to a closed society.  It effectively ignores the world that must be sought out for Christ.

Church members should be encouraged to visit the needy and the lost, even when it might require them to miss a congregational meeting. Remember, some of the orphans and widows who need your ministry will never set foot inside any church until after you lead them to Christ. 

Separate but available

     We must be a “separate people” (2 Cor. 6:17-18) without isolating ourselves from persons who need to see Jesus in us.  This requires our being “in the world while not of it.” (John 17:14-18). We are obligated to remain free from entanglement with the world while sharing the good news of the gospel with people who are entangled in it - and it is possible. Jesus is described as “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Hebrews 7:26). However, His example, while He trained twelve men over a period of about three and a half years, kept Him in almost constant contact with lost sinners. 

Be a partier

     Jesus came to “call sinners to repentance.”  That is why He was in Matthew's home on the occasion of the feast mentioned in Verse 10. Jesus called Matthew to follow Him and Matthew did exactly what Jesus expected.  He arranged for other sinners to meet His Lord. This record of Matthew's experience serves as a clear example for us. If you want to win your friends and associates for Jesus perhaps you should invite them to a party - on you. I believe Jesus would be pleased with you if you did. 

The Church

     In my opinion, a most unfortunate error was introduced into Christendom by the King James Bible’s use of the English word church to describe both the organic body of Christ and human congregations of individual believers. The Organization known as “The Assemblies of God” may have understood the problem. Perhaps that’s why they called their congregations “assemblies” rather than “churches?”

All born-again believers in Christ are members of His Body, the “Ekklesia,” whether or not they are affiliated with any group of believers. Where we are instructed in the way to associate with members of Christ’s body (1st John 3:10-18), the rules are not meant to exclude persons who do not attend our particular “assembly.”

If you are a “hand” in Christ’s body (1 Cor 12:18-27) you are, potentially at least, a “hand” within any assembly where God chooses to place you. So work where you are placed, not to please men but to please the Lord. He calls you to serve Him by serving some part of His body. But don’t forget. You are also called to serve the Lord by serving as His ambassador in the world. Find some way to do that too.

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David E. Beneze, 1006 Fairview Ave., Canon City, CO 81212. 10 June 2002. See Chapter 9 of “The Time Of His Life,” my unpublished commentary on Mathew’s Gospel. Latest revision 2/17/2007.