I came across the following social media meme, you know, those pithy comments <\/span>or reflections strewn about the intellectual and morbidly average wasteland we call \u201csocial media,\u201d which is, we should note, neither \u201csocial\u201d nor \u201cmedia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s no more \u201csocial\u201d than a pole on a street corner in a big city plastered with a ton of bills, posters, business cards, political slogans, or flyers for piano lessons is, \u201csocial.\u201d It\u2019s hardly \u201cmedia\u201d for the same reason. It\u2019s an electronic public platform that collapses time and space; that\u2019s all it is. But I digress. Here are the words (as best I can remember) noted in the meme:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJesus didn\u2019t eat with sinners and tax collectors because he wanted to appear inclusive, tolerant, and accepting. He ate with them to call them to a changed and fruitful life, to die to self and live for him. His call is transformation of life not affirmation of identity.\u201d<\/b> \u2013Social Media<\/span> Meme (I encountered it on Facebook)<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s just break this<\/span> down a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJesus didn\u2019t eat with sinners and tax collectors because he wanted to appear inclusive, tolerant, and accepting\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Notice the projection here and clear revealing of what the writer thinks about other people\u2019s motivations. When the creator of this meme sees a social-justice-type Christian (you know, those pesky \u201cwoke\u201d progressives) advocating for or doing the very things Jesus did, they assume it\u2019s all for appearance. It\u2019s an act. It\u2019s a performance for others. What an amazing ability the creator<\/span> has to peer into the hearts and minds of other people. <\/span><\/p>\n A meme like this one probably says more about the creator<\/span> than the person they attribute such motives to. Is this why the writer\/speaker does ministry? For appearance? Do they assume that everyone else must be like them?<\/span><\/p>\n And w<\/span>hy do they assume it\u2019s for appearance? <\/span>Are they agreeing that <\/span>Jesus was <\/span>indeed<\/span> \u201cinclusive, tolerant, and accepting\u201d <\/span>but the \u201cwoke\u201d people doing it now only do it for appearance? Or, are they saying that Jesus was none of those things and only spent time with \u201csinners\u201d <\/span>due to ulterior motives<\/span>? <\/span> Does <\/span>either view reflect very well upon th<\/span>e person who believes such<\/span>? <\/span>Or their view of Jesus?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Next: <\/span> \u201c\u2026He ate with them to call them to a changed and fruitful life, to die to self and live for him.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Well, in most of the passages of the gospels where we read about Jesus eating and spending time with \u201csinners\u201d and tax collectors, we aren\u2019t told what he called them to do. Perhaps the writer was thinking of what Jesus was calling his disciples to do. When Jesus does give counsel, he is asked for it:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Luke 3:12-14: \u201cSome tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, \u2018Teacher, what should we do?\u2019 He told them, \u2018Don\u2019t collect more money than you are ordered to collect.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And notice, this is only when they came to be baptized\u2014it tells us nothing about what Jesus said to those who weren\u2019t ready for change. Second, he speaks more to their actions than he does their spiritual motivations or future goals.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Is it possible that Jesus had no ulterior motive when spending time with \u201csinners,\u201d but simply wanted to love them and felt compassion and empathy toward those he<\/span> saw cast out from the religious world\u2014cast out by the very people who should have been doing what Jesus was doing? <\/span><\/p>\n What if the point<\/span>, if we feel we need one, was<\/span> to show the religious leaders of his day that it was possible to simply be with people with<\/span> no ulterior motive or hidden agenda other than to love them, whether they changed or not?<\/span><\/p>\n What if, paradoxically, this sort of attitude and action toward someone is what actually creates the space for them to change?<\/span><\/p>\n Finally: \u201c\u2026His call is transformation of life not affirmation of identity.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Why does the writer of this<\/span> meme think that if we don\u2019t call for \u201csinners\u201d to change such is<\/span> only an affirmation of their<\/span> identity or a complicity in their sin (if it\u2019s even truly a sin)? Has the writer ever considered the idea that sometimes we just need to sit, converse, and eat with people in a loving and listening posture for a long, long, time before we even get to a place where we can talk about change?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n When social justice Christians (which is just to say, just Christians<\/i>) spend time with \u201csinners,\u201d I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s about appearances or affirmations. It\u2019s more about doing what Jesus did, which was including those who had been pushed out, condemn, and shunned by the religious leaders\/people of his day. Those leaders\/people didn\u2019t like it when they saw Jesus doing it then, and many of the same type of people don\u2019t<\/span> like it when they see the same being done today. That\u2019s all this meme reveals.<\/span><\/p>\n This meme brings up \u201csinners\u201d and \u201ctax collectors\u201d to make a point about progressive (\u201cwoke\u201d) Christians. However, the point of those gospel<\/span> passages about Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors isn\u2019t primarily about changing those folks (even if that ended up being a byproduct of the encounter).<\/span><\/p>\n The point of those passages is to note the hypocrisy and failure to love on the part<\/span> of the religious leaders, who were calling Jesus out for his doing the very work they should have been doing. The call for transformation is to them<\/b>. The writer of this meme has it completely backwards.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The only thing this meme<\/span> tells us about \u201cwoke\u201d people is that they seem to go around doing what Jesus did. Why does that bother the meme\u2019s writer\/speaker\/creator? Rather than impugn the motives of others, the writer may want to look inward and reflect upon their own motives and understanding<\/span> of Jesus. They sound sort of like the religious person in this story: Luke 18:9-14<\/span><\/p>\n In my view, the meme is a deflection because whether it was Jesus back then or \u201cwoke\u201d Christians today, hey, meme creator<\/span>, assuming you\u2019re a Christian, they\u2019re just doing your job. If you are offended by their efforts or methods or feel the need to question their motives, such says a lot more about you than it does them.<\/span><\/p>\n Check out my new book<\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n