You're my kind of people

We all have a certain “type” of person we like to be around. There are certain qualities in people that we look for in order to determine whether we will have something in common with this person or not. As much as we would like to dodge the issue, this plays heavily into what kind of church we attend and get involved with. The fact is, most people join a church not because of the preaching and worship, although secondarily they are important, but because there are people there that they know or can identify with. Unless the church is very large, in which case the social makeup will take the shape of society at large, this results in homogeneous churches or ones in which everyone is similar.

Mark 2:13-17      
“Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 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. 16 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'?" 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  

Another social phenomenon that occurs among Christians is the number of personal friends and acquaintances who are non-believers decrease over time. Again, we like to be around people in whom we have commonality, and the maturing Christian soon becomes aware of the tremendous differences between his or her life and the lives of non-believing friends. So they make and maintain friendships with people who are Christians.

The problem with all of this is that Jesus did not do this. Yes, He called and gathered disciples around Him, but even the disciples were not really sure of who He was until after the resurrection. What would happen if Christians followed Jesus instead of what is comfortable socially? What if we really did reach out to and befriend those who annoy us, bore us, irritate us, or repulse us? What would that kind of Church look like?