I glanced up from a plate of bacon and eggs to see a world-renowned British actor only a table away. I peered again, unsure if I’d imagined it - perhaps this was just a regular bloke arriving for Saturday brunch - but after a minute or two, I was sure it was him. Having watched him perform alongside movie stars, I thought he might have opted for somewhere a little more high-brow than a greasy spoon cafe. Clearly even the celebs love a fry-up.

But while these ‘Why are you here?’ moments are a rarity in everyday life, they happen all the time in the gospels. In fact, Jesus often seems to be in the places you’d least expect. He never dined with kings or governors, but instead, regularly frequented the homes of tax collectors, sinners and the despised riffraff.

It’s no accident either - Jesus’ dining habits speak of his heart towards the outcast and the broken. And spending time with them over a meal was more than a nicety; it was an expression of companionship. To eat with someone was to say, ‘I count you as a friend.’

The Friend

Jesus’ heart towards sinners is the same today. He doesn’t only desire to be our king and master - these things are vital and true - but our friend too. As Jesus says to the disciples in John 15.15, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

Just like the tax-collectors and disciples, Jesus invites you to dine with him, to spend time enjoying his presence and to speak to him with the openness of a sibling or closest friend. In short, Jesus asks you - even you - if you’ll accept the joy of friendship with him.

…of Sinners

Yet when we hear this invitation, our minds often jump to objection after objection - mistakes, flaws, regrets. We discount ourselves with memories of past failures. ‘Jesus would never want to be a friend of mine’, we tell ourselves, ‘not if he really knew me’.

Except, the scandalous message of the gospel is that the sin we think exempts us from Jesus’ presence is exactly that which qualifies us to come to him as saviour. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus for eating with sinners, he highlighted this, saying: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2.17)

The message is clear: Jesus came to save those who don’t have their lives nicely ‘put together’. Christ came for those who know that they fall short, who know that their soul is fatally sick and who know they can never attain perfection.

Perhaps you feel this too. Perhaps you’re racked with guilt and condemnation, aware of your brokenness and sin. Jesus came for people exactly like you. He entered the lowly places in search of you, eating around tables you’d never expect him. And now, just like back then, he invites you to call him friend.

Our new single, Christ the Sinner’s Friend, is out today and explores these themes. Listen here.
These articles are written without the use of generative AI.

It’s been a big couple of weeks for the celebs. The Swift and Kelce wedding. Messi, Mbappé and Kane in the limelight. Trump weighing in. And let's not forget Harry Styles and his Guinness World Record run of nights at Wembley. We can’t help but lap up a bit of celebrity culture, myself included.

But these cultural waters can dangerously catch us in their drift. Many of us secretly harbour that same longing for notoriety - for someone to discover us, to finally notice our talent and grit. We work extra late and extra hard. Put a few more hours into that side-hustle. And make sure others take note by sharing it all on social media. Although we may not like to admit it, we want to be famous.

Yet, when we consider the most beautiful and happy life ever lived, we see something entirely different. Living 2000 years on, we can easily overlook it, but Jesus’ life was marked by incredible obscurity.

Out of the Limelight

Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus began his earthly ministry around the age of 30, but his teens and twenties remain a complete unknown. Many agree that Jesus was probably living a very ordinary life in these intervening years: working, providing, studying the scriptures, eating with his family, praying. He wasn’t in a hurry, pining after success. He wouldn’t have made it into Forbes 30 under 30. Jesus was content to wait in obscurity until the time was right.

And when Jesus' ministry finally began, we see that he never fanned the flame of notoriety. Despite word spreading about the miracles and message he was preaching, he didn't network with the big names - royalty, politicians, warriors, or culture-makers - but sought out the poor, sick, and outcast. The hidden margins of society were his home, ministering to those who could offer nothing in return. This obscurity continued even to his death, the climax of his ministry. Here we witness a dusty hill, torture and mocking - not a stadium of adoring fans. Rather than exalt Jesus as the newest celebrity on our feeds, we crushed and trampled him. As we read in Isaiah 53.3:

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

An Audience of One

So what enabled Jesus to live this hidden life, free from the need for fame or human approval? His baptism at the very start of his ministry makes it clear: "and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3.17). Jesus was secure in the undying love of our Father. He knew that whatever rejection he’d face, the Father accepted him. And he understood that living for the audience of One is far better than living for the crowd.

Today, the Father speaks the same word over you as his adopted child. He invites you to stop living for the acclaim of others - the hope of fame or reputation or legacy - and to know his wide smile and pride-filled voice that says, “[Your name], with you I am well pleased”.

These articles are 100% man-made, without the use of generative AI.