Why Don't the Unsaved Come to Church?

Why don’t “tax collectors”, “publicans”, “prostitutes” and “sinners” come to our Churches?   I’ve heard the question posed like that in various ways.  Will the community of unsaved people feel welcome in our churches; and if they don’t, why not? 

This type of question is raised by Philip Yancy in his book, “The Jesus I Never Knew.”[1]   In Chapter 8 of his book, entitled: Mission – A Revolution of Grace, he writes:

“As my class in Chicago read the Gospels and watched movies about Jesus' life, we noticed a striking pattern: the more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons.

In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.”[2]

He goes on to propose: “Somehow we have created a community of respectability in the church, I told my class.”

Now I am compelled to interact with Yancy regarding the issue.  As someone who has had to answer this query several times, I think it is necessary to point out something.  I will do it in this provocative way:

I don’t expect “tax collectors, prostitutes, drug addicts, drunkards, etc. to come into my church worship services.

I’m not suggesting that Yancy stated that.  The problem is that when we read that Jesus,  “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’” (Luke 7:34, NIV); we immediately contemporize the scenario and see Jesus partying with worldly patrons during the church meeting.  That is a seriously incorrect reading for two reasons:

1. The assembly of the saints for worship and meetings for biblical instruction are never depicted in Scripture as a missionary environment, an outpost for the lost and lonely to find refuse; and

2. The context where Jesus met freely with “sinners” was in their homes and in the community.  For example we read “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”” (Mark 2:15–16, NIV)

I think the point that ought to be asked is “why do I not have more ‘publicans and sinners’ in my home; or why am I not invited more often to their home?”   In Luke 15:1–2 (NIV), we read:

¹ Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Yancy writes, “What would it take, I asked in closing, for church to become a place where prostitutes, tax collectors, and even guilt-tinged Pharisees would gladly gather?”[3]  If Yancy were to mean the church mobilized, or would mean the people of God scattered in their communities, I would think this is an important question.

If Yancy means why doesn’t the church on Sunday mornings, or Wednesday evenings become a gathering for the “prostitutes, tax collectors, and even the Pharisees”, I would suggest that this question will likely never get answered, or should be answered.   Now I’m not suggesting that the “lost” should not, nor will not, come to a Christian worship service or meeting.  They have and they do.  We thank God for that.  But the man who is overcome with alcohol abuse or the woman who is tired of lovers gone bad is not likely to wander into our 11:00 o’clock service.

But, on the other hand, if my life was characterized as Jesus’ was “a friend of sinners”, then perhaps through the amazing grace of the Gospel, I will have the opportunity to share this glorious hope with an alcoholic or a drug dealer; and they will see and treasure Christ, the Savior.   As Kevin DeYoung writes, “Jesus was a friend of sinners in that he came to save sinners and was very pleased to welcome sinners who were open to the gospel, sorry for their sins, and on their way to putting their faith in Him.”[4]

It is then these folks who have “come just as they are” and found the life-transforming power of Christ, who will not only delight in Sunday morning attendance, but will find ongoing grace and strength in the ministry of the worship service and church meetings.

Indeed it is the Church mobilized and scattered into the community that should be known as those who frequent the lives of “publicans and sinners.”  As Christians willing and eagerly rub shoulders with the lost and dying; have them in their homes and lives; and lay down their forced respectability long enough to join them in their homes -- then and only then, will amazing things happen.

PS:  I'm far more concerned about the mass of professing Christians who rarely attend Church services.

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[1] Yancy, Philip, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 1995

[2] Yancy, Philip, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 1995, Page 147

[3] Yancy, Philip, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 1995, Page 149

[4] http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/kevindeyoung/2014/03/04/jesus-friend-of-sinners-but-how/