Friend of Sinners, by Rich Wilkerson, Jr.

In Friend of Sinners: Why Jesus Cares More about Relationship Than Perfection, pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr., makes a point that all Christians need to be reminded of: Jesus was, in fact, a friend of sinners!  In one sense, it's an obvious point, if you think about Jesus' ministry as recorded in the New Testament.  But in another sense, the way most of us Christians live our lives and the way we minister to others doesn't reflect friendship with sinners.

Our approach to the Christian life tends to be opposite of what it should be.  "We tend to think [God] puts top priority on performance, purity, and perfection, and we assume relationship is the eventual reward for those things. . . . Actually, it works the other way around.  The closer we get to Jesus, the more like him we become.  Relationship comes first; changes come later." 

For Christians, we sometimes apply this thinking to unbelievers.  Unconsciously or not, we tend to say to unbelievers, "Get yourself cleaned up and come to Jesus."  Jesus would say the opposite.  "He was the friend of sinners, so he served sinners; now he asks us to do the same."

Wilkerson became a bit of a media darling when he officiated Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's wedding.  That led to his starring in a reality show on the Oxygen network.  I don't know enough about Wilkerson and his ministry to draw many conclusions.  But the message of Friend of Sinners is on target and needs to be heard by many in the church.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!