Perspective changes everything. I always found it funny to read the stories of Jesus getting into trouble with the Pharisees for eating with and spending time with “sinners.” Who else was Jesus supposed to hang out with? You know, there’s Jesus and then there’s the sinners. He could either be alone all the time which would really defeat the purpose of coming or he could spend time with sinners.

Now I understand that the religious people, including the Pharisees, did not believe they were sinners because they followed the rules of tradition…at least on the outside. I wonder how often we are like that. How often do we follow the rules of tradition (the way things have “always” been done) instead of following Christ? You know we do. People outside the Church see it. That’s one of the reasons many stay away.

Have we become just the blind leading the blind? Perhaps we choose to focus on the traditions of our congregations because as long as we do that, we don’t have to change – so that we don’t have to truly see. We don’t have to risk going out of our comfort zone. We don’t have to acknowledge that we are sinners who are called to share a perfect God with other sinners.

We are now starting a new year. Let’s pray for God to give us the proper perspective. To see ourselves and others the way God sees us. Let 2015 be a year when the Church follows Christ and nothing else.