Jesus as fashion accessory

This week's verses are Mark 2:13-17:

Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him. As Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

These verses describe two different ways that people see Jesus. To the Pharisees, Jesus should only have hung out with the righteous. Their perspective was that the presence of God was a sign of his approval. So logically it would follow that anyone Jesus was around would need to be doing things right. So if they knew that wasn't the case, it meant something must be wrong with Jesus, because they wouldn't hang out with those sorts of people. So in their eyes, Jesus should have known better.

The other perspective is the one Jesus describes: He says that the healthy don't need a physician, but the sick do. You wouldn't say a doctor is a quack if only sick people came to his office. It's what happens afterwards that you would need to pay attention to. The doctor's visit isn't to attest to everyone how healthy you are. It's to get things fixed.

So while the religious people seek Jesus' approval, the sinners seek his grace and healing. It's pride versus humility. You can see it elsewhere too, in how the Pharisees react to criticism. If you're going to Jesus to get his stamp of approval, and he points out something wrong with you instead, you're going to get angry.

So why do you seek Jesus? Is it so that you can feel like a good person? So that you can look down on people who don't go to church? Is it to cherry-pick things from God's word that you can use to puff yourself up? ("Oh look, Jesus says the poor are blessed. I'm poor. That means I'm better than all the rich people, right?") It's understandable if you find yourself doing that. We naturally want to be good people. We want approval from others. But we also need to recognize that there might be something wrong with us.

What Jesus isn't talking about is false humility. You know the type: A person who is always humble-bragging about something they did, or who puts themselves down as a way to fish for compliments. Those people don't want criticism or comparison. They just want to be told how awesome they are

The people Jesus is talking about are the people who know something is wrong with them. Or people who realize they have blind spots and could be wrong without realizing it. Those are the people Jesus spent time with, not because those kinds of people are better, but because his efforts wouldn't be wasted with them. And a lot of time the people who know something is wrong with them know it because it is obvious to everyone.

The Pharisees were basically using Jesus as a fashion accessory. They didn't see him as something needed or useful. They just wanted to have him in view to signal their virtue. Like the "I'm basically a good person, and I show it by going to church" Christians. 

To the rest, Jesus was like a warm coat to a freezing man. Without him, they would have suffered and died. To those known sinners, he wasn't just a want. He was a need.

But when we read verses like these, we have to ask ourselves, "which character is us?" Are we the Pharisee who is surprised and indignant that anybody but him could be saved? Or are we the tax collectors and sinners who are surprised they themselves could be saved? Why do we go to church? Why do we call ourselves Christians? The Pharisees probably hadn't asked themselves that any more than we have. But it's a question Jesus' remarks force us to ask of ourselves.

It's a good question to meditate on this week. "Am I just using Jesus, or the church, as a stamp of how good I am? Or am I genuinely in need of that connection?" The best time to find out you're sick is when you know where to go for the cure. Don't wait until it's too late.