Let’s look at an occasion when the Lord Jesus associated with unsaved people, although they were not related.  Matthew 9:9-13 tells us, “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  I thought it good to read this entire portion to get the particulars of this event.  According to Luke 5:29, this house that the Lord was in, was the house of Levi (Matthew) who “made Him a great feast” probably out of appreciation of the Lord’s grace and His calling him into service to Himself.  At this great feast, we see there were “many publicans and sinners.”  Publicans were tax collectors who collected money from the Jews on behalf of the Romans.  They were particularly despised by the people for taking their money and giving it to Rome.  Matthew, himself, had been a publican so we can understand that his friends would include other publicans and sinners of the city.  The Lord accepted this invitation from this new follower and used it for an occasion to show His mercy to one that obviously did not deserve it. 

Did these Pharisees need the mercy of God?  They certainly did, but they did not recognize their own sinful conditions.  Rather, they criticized the Lord for sitting with sinners…not realizing they were also sinners in need of God’s grace.  Why did the Lord not come to call the righteous?  Because that ARE NOT any righteous ones as we read in Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  The Apostle Paul understood that he was a sinner when he wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15).

What do we learn from this?  I believe we see the necessity to have a relationship with all we can, family or not, in order to present the Good News of salvation.  This does not mean that we should enter into the sinful practices of the unsaved.  It does not mean that we form relationships that do not include efforts to lead them to Christ.  We are warned many times in Scripture about conforming to this sinful world and its practices.

  • Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
  • Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
  • 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

On the other hand, we need to be involved in the lives of the unsaved to the extent we might lead them to Christ.

  • Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
  • 1 Corinthians 9:22, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Unbelievers need us to care for their eternal souls and allow the Lord to use us to preach the Gospel to all.  Let’s be cautious to keep our personal relationships with the unsaved with the purpose that we might influence them rather than allowing them to influence us.  “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation…” (Isaiah 52:7).  (CC)  (713.4)