Help the Sinner

Matthew 9:11-13

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
13 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.

When the great and mighty Pharisees challenged Christ on who dined with he made it known these where the people he had come to save. We forget that from time to time. We think the only people we are to witness to or even be around are the ones who set in church with us. That we should only witness to them and no one else. We believe that if a sinner comes to church or trys to speak with us we should turn them away. I have a good friend from Atlanta. He admits he falls and sins, but he tries and gives it all he has to serve God, he wrote this poem during a time in his life he was down:

Who are our friends?
Are they Sinners or Saints?
Do they walk perfectly in The Word
Or, are they just learning to walk out of the World?
Are they strong and mighty servants?
Or have they yet learned to hear Him speak?
Are you challenged by their friendship, or,
Do they just let you cruise easily through your day?
If your only friends are Saints
With whom do you share The Word?
If your only friends are Saints,
Who is to befriend the Sinners?
Should only Sinners befriend Sinners
So only Sinners lead their way?
How would a Sinner walk in God’s plan
With no Saint as a friend to guide him by hand?
If a Sinner’s mistake
Makes a Saint walk away
Who helps that Sinner
See the Truth in God’s way?
The Sinner is striving
To walk closer to God.
The Sinner is hungry
for the Fruit of the Word.
This Sinner is TRYING
But he WILL make mistakes.
Who are YOUR friends
Any Sinners
Or ONLY Saints?

When I read it, it broke my heart. I prayed and asked God to not let me be the person who would refuse to let a sinner set with them at church or speak to them on the street. Now this man has set at my dinner table, and not once has he ever tried to get me to turn away from God, and through the years I have seen him progress in his walk in Christ. What if we had been like the Pharisees? I would have pushed him away and lost out on knowing a good man and his family. Now, I am not saying go sin with the sinner, I am saying be that light and be like Christ and bring the sick to the great physician, because that sinner you bring in might be the next great preacher.