I’ve slept in shelters in the Bowery and Sunset Park in New York City. I’ve stayed up all night at the Port Authority talking with the leader and a few members of a gang. I’ve been a part of a small band of disciples moving about from place to place with no other agenda than to know God and make him known through serving, talking, preaching, and buying lunch for the homeless.

Jesus is appealing to the helpless and hopeless. My experience is the neighborhoods are safer and more welcoming in the areas with the worst reputations. By contrast, doors slammed in my face in the ‘burbs of Philadelphia. Jesus is rejected today, especially by the “upper crust.” As Jesus of Palestine said, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

Do you think the message of Jesus is “extreme”? Would he be welcome in your church?