Are you ever tempted to think that some people you know will never become Christians?
Maybe it's because they swear all the time, tell crude jokes, get drunk, are obsessed with greed, follow another religion or are just really anti-Christian. Maybe they’re your schoolmates, friends or even family members.
Sometimes, it just seems like they're so far away from the truth of the gospel and the way God wants us to live that it would be impossible for them to even turn up one week at Youth Group, let alone accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking this way. But the Bible clearly shows us that there is no one too lost for Christ to save.
In Chapter Five of Luke’s gospel, Jesus called Levi (Matthew) the tax collector to become his disciple. Tax collectors worked for the Romans and also frequently committed fraud against their own people for personal gain. And yet Jesus called him. When Jesus met with other tax collectors at Levi's house, the local teachers of the law asked him “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus' reply was “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus didn't think the tax collectors were too sinful to be saved. That's why he was hanging out with them, so that they, like Levi, might repent of their sin and follow him.
In God's eyes, all of us have sinned against him. We're all just as bad as each other, having rejected his authority and perfect plan for us. We need to remember that we are no better than the other sinners around us – the only difference is we have repented and experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The Bible is full of stories about the most sinful, lost and unlikely people turning to God. People like King Nebuchadnezzar, who was forcing people to worship him but ultimately admitted his sinfulness and praised the God Most High. People like the thief on the cross, who after living as a criminal accepted Jesus' lordship just moments before death. People like the apostle Paul, who was actively persecuting Jesus' followers and ended up becoming one himself, and leading many more people to him.
If you're reading this and you think you're not good enough for God, hear this: it's not about what you've done. All of us are sinful and are only made pure through the death of Jesus Christ.
And as you interact with the people in your life, remember that no one is too lost for Christ to rescue them. Everyone is a potential child of God. We are saved by God’s grace alone.