Chalke Talk: 23: Jesus wasn't afraid of scandal when it came to inclusion

“The first readers of the Gospels would have thought its content scandalous,” argues Steve in this week’s Chalke Talk. While some of the significance can be lost to us, the pages of the four books that recount the life of Jesus are full of him pushing the boundaries of social acceptability by reaching out to people that the ‘Holy’ considered outcast.

The Samaritans were a people that the mainstream Jewish population considered scandalous – but yet when asked ‘who is my Neighbour?’, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan.  In fact, so broad was the inclusion of Jesus that there is very little difference between his teaching to ‘love your neighbour’ and his earlier instruction to ‘love your enemy.’

Although it would be wrong to suggest that Jesus faced all the same issues around inclusion that we do today, Steve argues that Jesus would have been the greatest champion of the people marginalised in the 21st Century.

What are we doing to tackle our own prejudices and push ourselves and our churches to be more inclusive?

Why not discuss as part of a small group?