Extract from Brennan Manning's book 'The Ragamuffin Gospel'

"Here is revelation bright as the evening star: Jesus comes for the [selfish], for those as outcast as tax collectors and for those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams. He comes for corporate executives, street people, superstars, farmers, hookers, addicts, HMRC agents, AIDS victims, and even used car salesmen. Jesus not only talks with these people but dines with them – fully aware that his table fellowship with the [selfish] will raise the eyebrows of religious bureaucrats who hold up robes and insignia of their authority to justify their condemnation of the truth and their rejection of the gospel of grace…

"In effect, Jesus says the Kingdom of his Father is not a subdivision for the self-righteous not for those who feel they possess the state secret of their salvation. The Kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homlier, less self-conscious cast of people who understand they are [selfish] because the have experiences the yaw and pitch of moral struggle…

"Whatever our failings may be, we need not lower our eyes in the presence of Jesus. Unlike Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, we need not hide all that is ugly and repulsive in us. Jesus comes not for the super-spiritual but for the wobbly and the weak-kneed who are not too proud to accept the handout of amazin’ grace. As we glance up, we are astonished to find the eyes of Jesus open with wonder, deep understanding and gentle with compassion."

Manning. B. (1990). The Ragamuffin Gospel. Milton Keynes: Authentic

By Andy Wain