Columnist Takes on Calvinists on What 'Jesus, Friend of Sinners' Means; Gets Andy Stanley's Support
Jonathan Merritt released a column this week to "[set] the record straight on Jesus" and whether he was a friend of sinners without pre-conditions. His column was backed by influential pastor Andy Stanley.
"Got to go with @JonathanMerritt on this one," Pastor Stanley, founder of North Point Ministries in Atlanta, Ga., tweeted.
The senior columnist for Religion News Service was seeking to refute statements made by Calvinists earlier this year that Jesus only hung out with sinners who were seeking forgiveness or sinners who were "already followers."
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"[D]oes it matter that we correctly understand Jesus' social habits? It does actually. Because Christians believe they must 'live as Jesus did.' If the faithful only build relational bridges with those who are open to converting, they will find it increasingly difficult to exist in a pluralistic, post-Christian culture,'" Merritt wrote.
His column came in response to remarks by Joe Carter, director of Communications for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich.
Merritt, author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars, and Carter had engaged in a brief debate on Twitter after Merritt tweeted in January about Christian singer Natalie Grant walking out of the Grammys. After several tweets back and forth, Carter tweeted, "@JonathanMerritt You don't think Jesus was turned off by the depravity of sinners? Didn't he only welcome those seeking forgiveness?"
Carter also agreed with a tweet by Bob Bixby who wrote, "The sinners Jesus partied with were already followers."
DeYoung, who was not engaged in the Twitter debate, wrote a blog post earlier this month on the issue of Jesus being a "friend of sinners," stating, "It is all too easy, and amazingly common, for Christians (or non-Christians) to take the general truth that Jesus was a friend of sinners and twist it all out of biblical recognition.
"Did he indiscriminately 'hang out' with drunks and prostitutes? Was he an easy going live-and-let-live kind of Messiah? What we see from the composite of these passages is that sinners were drawn to Jesus, that Jesus gladly spent time with sinners who were open to his teaching, that Jesus forgave repentant sinners, and that Jesus embraced sinners who believed in him," DeYoung wrote.
Disagreeing with the statements by both Carter and DeYoung, Merritt sought comments from several New Testament scholars to confirm what he believed – that there was no conditionality in Jesus' relationships.
Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, cited texts such as Matthew 9:10-11 and 9:13 where Jesus extends fellowship to individuals. The text says "nothing about their interest in the gospel or their repentance or their willingness to put faith in him," Burge told Merritt. "I think that Jesus' reputation was just the opposite. The complaint against him was that he spent time with people without pre-conditions."
Darrell Bock, senior research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, also weighed in. He referred to stories of the woman caught in adultery and the woman at the well. "Jesus is encouraging people who are taking positive steps, but he associates with all people with no strings attached," Bock told Merritt.
Joel Green, professor of New Testament interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary, specifically responded to DeYoung's statements: "I get the point that Kevin DeYoung is trying to make, but I think it would be problematic to think that Jesus has already predetermined what kind of 'sinner' he is going to hang out with in order to determine who will and won't hear the good news. This makes it sound like Jesus will only hang out with those who will respond positively to him. This is not true."
Merritt, a resident of Brooklyn in New York City, argued against the belief that Christians should build relationships with only those who are open to converting.
"[T]ry living out the belief that you should offer fellowship only to those who 'are open to the gospel' in New York City where only a tiny sliver of the population is Christian," he noted.
"This type of thinking can degrade the very essence of relationship by forcing us to see people more as projects than friends," Merritt said.
The columnist ended his article by saying, "A Jesus who loves us even if we don't love back? A Savior who pursues us even as we run away? A Christ who offers fellowship to all indiscriminately without condition, no strings attached? That would be a Jesus who is better than we've imagined, and that would be good news."
