Lighting Up Our City Video 4: Building Bridges Not Barriersنموونە

Sometimes, when I am at Bible study and we go around the room with prayer requests, attendees will ask the group to pray for their adult son or daughter who “isn’t walking with the Lord.” The first thing I want to ask, but don’t, is “How do you know that they are not walking with the Lord? What does that look like to you?”

One time I asked this question, and I was surprised by the answer: “They would go to church, read the Bible, and pray daily.” Certainly, this is what “walking with the Lord” means to my friend, but I had to wonder if it meant the same thing for her daughter.

We think that being a Christian, or “walking with the Lord,” looks a particular way.

But Jesus…He met people exactly where they were, saw them, and loved them. The story of Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus is an excellent example.

From the perspective of others, Zacchaeus certainly wasn’t “walking with the Lord”: he was a tax collector, and not just a tax collector but also a supervisor of the tax collectors in the region. This profession was known for its exploitation of others for their own benefit. Zacchaeus was also rich. This would be two strikes against him, and the third was his small stature.

Instead of avoiding this “sinful man,” Jesus calls to him and says He intends to stay at Zacchaeus’ house. And Zacchaeus responds with an attitude of repentance and a desire to be right with others and with God. Because Jesus saw Zacchaeus as “a son of Abraham,” Zacchaeus received the gift of salvation.

Jesus came “to seek and save the lost.” We are called to do the same. It may even mean reaching out to someone who isn’t like us, someone we may judge as sinful or unworthy. But when we stop to see them as Jesus does, “a child of God,” then perhaps we can extend the same love and grace that Jesus extended to Zacchaeus. And who knows? Salvation may come to their house as well.

By Teresa Baumbach