I recently started watching The Chosen, and to my delightful surprise, it’s been refreshing and good. As I watch it, I find myself identifying with the different characters in the show. One of my favorite characters is Matthew. Matthew is a young, wealthy tax collector.
We find Matthew’s story in Matthew 9:9-13. In The Chosen, Matthew’s story unfolds in several episodes, and we witness that he is hated and lonely. Despised by his fellow Jews and seen as a traitor, he carves out a lonely existence for himself. As a tax collector, no one invites him to Shabbat dinner, and he cannot worship at the temple. But that all begins to change when Jesus takes notice of him.
A dinner invitation
One day, Matthew is sitting in the tax collector’s booth, hard at work collecting taxes for the Roman government. As he works, Jesus passes by his booth, calls out to him, and asks Matthew to follow him. Matthew immediately leaves his booth and follows Jesus. Following this scene, we find Jesus in Matthew’s home. Matthew has thrown a dinner party together for Jesus. Cultural enemies are feasting side by side. Upon hearing their laughter, Pharisees stop at Matthew’s home and ask Jesus why He is having dinner with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus replies, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous but sinners” (Matt. 9:12-13). All of them feel the impact of his words.
Invitation and Rejection
The story of Matthew illustrates two ways we sometimes pursue friendships in Christian communities.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, he also calls us to community. When Matthew leaves behind his career to follow Jesus, he invites him into the community he created around Him. Jesus kept company with tax collectors and sinners. He not only drew people to himself, but he also drew people into relationships with believers and unbelievers.
In the same way, when Jesus calls us to himself, he draws us into his community, the Church.
As a church, we are called to be on mission together. You cannot live on mission for Christ apart from the local church. God calls you to himself and to be in relationships with other Christians. The most life-giving friendships that exist in the local church are those that seek to love the Lord and make disciples together. Jesus is teaching his disciples to follow Him and to help others to follow Him.
Maybe when you read this story, you identify too quickly with Jesus or with the disciples. But have you ever asked yourself, in what ways am I like the Pharisee? The Pharisees question Jesus’ choice of dinner guests. These are not the people they would dine with. For some of us, spending time with Christians is no problem at all. If anything, maybe we spend too much time with Christians. But are we willing to spend time with those who don’t hold the same views, values, or beliefs as us? Do we welcome those into our homes who live completely different lifestyles than we do? Are we looking for ways to connect and enjoy life with them? As we spend time with our Christian friends, have we thought of how we can leverage the gift of friendship to love others? Or are we hoarding the blessings of these friendships?
Missional opportunity
Leverage God’s gifts of friendship for the sake of others. In a world where 3 out of 5 Americans are lonely, the Christian community is well equipped to meet a need that our neighbors, co-workers, and classmates have. We all need to be in a relationship with other people, and we can and should seek to meet that need in healthy ways. But our ultimate need is for Christ. Only Jesus can perfectly meet every need. We invite others in so that they may know Him. I love this story because it shows God’s heart for the lost, the hurting, and the lonely. It shows that missional discipleship is as simple as inviting to dinner those in need of Christ.