You’ve heard it as often as I have: “The wonderful, good news of Jesus Christ is that all are welcome in the family of God.” There are so many examples of God welcoming the outsider in the Gospels: the Syro-Phoenician woman who receives healing for her daughter though she is not Jewish; the Samaritan woman at the well who drinks the living water; the lepers only Jesus would touch; and all the “publicans and sinners” with whom Jesus ate and drank. The Gospel demolishes the barriers that normally divide human beings and announces that all are welcome in the new humankind, regardless of race, ancestry, culture, age, or sexual orientation.
Let there be no mistake: this is a radical message, challenging as it does all forms of racism and exclusivity. It is a foretaste of that amazing scene in Revelation, where “all tribes and tongues and nations” gather before the throne of the Lamb.
Half a Gospel
So, the message of inclusivity is good news, no question about it. Yet it’s dangerous to think this is the whole Gospel, not least because it embodies such a precious truth. But this Gospel is only half a Gospel. What then is the other half? All are welcome—of course—but the welcome is to a life where we learn to give up control of our own lives to follow Jesus, a life where we allow God to work in us and through us to renew the world. And, to put it bluntly, not everybody wants that.
Imagine some kind of club—let’s say it’s an athletic club—and it advertises itself as “We are an inclusive club and all are welcome!” You think, “Well, I’m not athletic, but if they’re inclusive and everybody is welcome, maybe I can go there with my chess board and find someone who wants to play chess.” When you arrive at the door, they are indeed welcoming and obviously pleased to see you. But they are a bit puzzled by the chessboard. And when you look around, everyone seems to be involved in physical fitness activities. Not a chessboard to be seen! And, in spite of the warmth of the welcome, you go home disappointed.
There are several people in the Gospels who are like this: they are fully welcomed, but end up going away disappointed:
- Nine out of ten lepers take the gift of healing that Jesus gives them but continue to live their own lives. Apparently, only one becomes a disciple. (Luke 17:11–19)
- There is a scene in John’s Gospel where Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Many of his disciples find that a hard saying, “turned back, and no longer went about with him.” (John 6:35–69)
- The rich young man wanted to follow Jesus—and Mark notes that Jesus loved him—but refused to be included because the cost of following was too high. And (astonishingly) Jesus let him go. (Mark 10:17–22)
So the welcome is certainly for all. But not all will choose to pursue what the welcoming community is about.
Welcome to what?
Rowan Williams has said: “I don’t believe inclusion is a value in itself. Welcome is.” It’s a helpful distinction. People are totally welcomed into the community. But it is a community of a particular character: radically committed to the way of Jesus, with its decisions and direction governed by the teaching of Jesus and the leading of his Spirit. And visitors, however warmly they are welcomed, will at some point be faced with the challenge of the Gospel, of being “converted” and baptised. Rowan Williams again: “conversion means conversion of habits, behaviours, ideas, emotions.”
Think of Zaccheus: Jesus welcomes him when no one else will—but the result is that Zaccheus gives up being a tax collector and gives away his ill-gotten gains. He becomes a disciple who quickly learns that giving is more blessed than receiving. The woman taken in adultery is told, “Go and sin no more.” The first four disciples leave their familiar life as fishermen to follow the strange rabbi from Nazareth. They are “converted” to discipleship.
Can we do anything to help people stay beyond the welcome? Absolutely. Let’s go back to the analogy of the athletic club. What if the people who welcomed you at the door said, “Why don’t you leave your chessboard with us for now? Just wander around and watch what people are doing. Talk to them and ask them why they do it, and what they like about it. Then come back and ask us any questions.” And what if they said, “You seem to be new to this, so you may be interested in a beginner’s class we have starting this Wednesday. It goes for three weeks, and it’s free, and that’ll help you decide if this kind of thing is for you.”
“Surely Jesus welcomed everybody? Surely he included everyone?” Yes but. As someone has said, “God loves us enough to accept us exactly as we are—but God also loves us too much to leave us that way.” Everybody is included in the invitation to life with God—a life of change, growth, adventure, and love as an apprentice of Jesus. Leave your chessboard at the door.
Why Inclusiveness is Not Enough
You’ve heard it as often as I have: “The wonderful, good news of Jesus Christ is that all are welcome in the family of God.” There are so many examples of God welcoming the outsider in the Gospels: the Syro-Phoenician woman who receives healing for her daughter though she is not Jewish; the Samaritan woman at the well who drinks the living water; the lepers only Jesus would touch; and all the “publicans and sinners” with whom Jesus ate and drank. The Gospel demolishes the barriers that normally divide human beings and announces that all are welcome in the new humankind, regardless of race, ancestry, culture, age, or sexual orientation.
Let there be no mistake: this is a radical message, challenging as it does all forms of racism and exclusivity. It is a foretaste of that amazing scene in Revelation, where “all tribes and tongues and nations” gather before the throne of the Lamb.
Half a Gospel
So, the message of inclusivity is good news, no question about it. Yet it’s dangerous to think this is the whole Gospel, not least because it embodies such a precious truth. But this Gospel is only half a Gospel. What then is the other half? All are welcome—of course—but the welcome is to a life where we learn to give up control of our own lives to follow Jesus, a life where we allow God to work in us and through us to renew the world. And, to put it bluntly, not everybody wants that.
Imagine some kind of club—let’s say it’s an athletic club—and it advertises itself as “We are an inclusive club and all are welcome!” You think, “Well, I’m not athletic, but if they’re inclusive and everybody is welcome, maybe I can go there with my chess board and find someone who wants to play chess.” When you arrive at the door, they are indeed welcoming and obviously pleased to see you. But they are a bit puzzled by the chessboard. And when you look around, everyone seems to be involved in physical fitness activities. Not a chessboard to be seen! And, in spite of the warmth of the welcome, you go home disappointed.
There are several people in the Gospels who are like this: they are fully welcomed, but end up going away disappointed:
So the welcome is certainly for all. But not all will choose to pursue what the welcoming community is about.
Welcome to what?
Rowan Williams has said: “I don’t believe inclusion is a value in itself. Welcome is.” It’s a helpful distinction. People are totally welcomed into the community. But it is a community of a particular character: radically committed to the way of Jesus, with its decisions and direction governed by the teaching of Jesus and the leading of his Spirit. And visitors, however warmly they are welcomed, will at some point be faced with the challenge of the Gospel, of being “converted” and baptised. Rowan Williams again: “conversion means conversion of habits, behaviours, ideas, emotions.”
Think of Zaccheus: Jesus welcomes him when no one else will—but the result is that Zaccheus gives up being a tax collector and gives away his ill-gotten gains. He becomes a disciple who quickly learns that giving is more blessed than receiving. The woman taken in adultery is told, “Go and sin no more.” The first four disciples leave their familiar life as fishermen to follow the strange rabbi from Nazareth. They are “converted” to discipleship.
Can we do anything to help people stay beyond the welcome? Absolutely. Let’s go back to the analogy of the athletic club. What if the people who welcomed you at the door said, “Why don’t you leave your chessboard with us for now? Just wander around and watch what people are doing. Talk to them and ask them why they do it, and what they like about it. Then come back and ask us any questions.” And what if they said, “You seem to be new to this, so you may be interested in a beginner’s class we have starting this Wednesday. It goes for three weeks, and it’s free, and that’ll help you decide if this kind of thing is for you.”
“Surely Jesus welcomed everybody? Surely he included everyone?” Yes but. As someone has said, “God loves us enough to accept us exactly as we are—but God also loves us too much to leave us that way.” Everybody is included in the invitation to life with God—a life of change, growth, adventure, and love as an apprentice of Jesus. Leave your chessboard at the door.
John Bowen is Professor Emeritus of Evangelism at Wycliffe College in Toronto, where he was also the Director of the Institute of Evangelism. Before that, he worked a campus evangelist for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. For over thirty years, John has been a popular speaker, teacher, and preacher, on university campuses, in churches and in classrooms, and at conferences, across Canada and the USA. His most recent book is The Unfolding Gospel: How the Good News Makes Sense of Discipleship, Church, Mission, and Everything Else (Fortress 2021).
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