阅读经文 

我在一所位于城市贫民区的教会侍奉。教会一位长老劝告我，如果我真的有心与住在那个地区的家庭联系，我就必须不怕麻烦，积极参与他们的生活。换句话说，我必须介入他们乱糟糟的生活，而不是远距离地关怀他们。

耶稣不但看顾那些被社会排斥的人——例如向人滥收税银然后中饱私囊的税吏——祂更呼召他们来跟从祂和教导他们认识祂。像利未那样的人邀请耶稣来庆祝他们生命中极大的改变，尽管在“备受尊敬”的人眼中，他们和他们的朋友看来是混杂不堪，然而耶稣仍然选择和这些人一起。这些被排斥的人，就像没有牧人的羊，耶稣的到来赐给他们——和我们每一个人——丰盛的生命。

我们这些已得救的人，有时不屑向陷在罪中的人分享福音，因为我们或许认为自己太圣洁了。然而耶稣却吩咐我们，要像祂那样去寻找他们，爱他们，带领他们拥有健康的灵命。

有些人犯的罪与我们所犯的不同，我们很容易便会批判他们。然而，假若我们为那些犯了令人憎恶罪行的罪人祷告呢？假若我们善待那些因毒瘾受苦、反叛，或政治立场与我们不同的人呢？我们若这样做，便等于是在属灵的层面不怕麻烦，积极地参与他们的生活了。

An elder of the inner-city church where I served advised me that if I was serious about connecting with families in the local neighborhood, I had to get my hands dirty. In other words, I had to get involved in the messiness of people’s lives rather than doing ministry from a distance.

Jesus not only ministered to people who were outcasts of society—such as tax collectors who overcharged people and filled their own pockets—but he also called them to be his followers and to teach others about him. And when people like Levi invited Jesus to celebrate their radical life-change, he joined with them and their friends, no matter how motley they might have seemed to “respectable” people. The outcasts were like sheep without a shepherd, and Jesus had come to give them—and all of us—full life.

Sometimes we who are saved may think we are too sanitary to share the good news with people who are lost in sin. Jesus calls us to search them out and to love and guide them to spiritual health, as he did.

It’s easy to judge others who sin differently than we do. But what if we pray for people whose sin disgusts us? What if we show kindness to people who suffer from addictions, who are rebellious, or whose political views differ from ours? Then we’ll be getting our spiritual hands dirty.