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Levi is better known by his other name: Matthew. Jesus' invitation to join His crew meant guaranteed unemployment. Yet he didn't hesitate. Was that because he sensed genuine acceptance by Jesus? Jesus gave him a new purpose for his record-keeping skills as he compiled his gospel narrative.

Luke 5:27-32

1. Why were the religious leaders so upset by the way Jesus mingled with irreligious people from different social levels?
2. Which do you think Jesus perceived as more receptive to His gospel: the religious leaders or those outside their synagogues?
3. Would you say the non-Christians you know are hostile to the gospel or have never meaningfully encountered it?
4. By socializing with the tax collectors and "sinners," was Jesus endorsing their practices and lifestyles?
5. For Levi, did leaving his tax-collecting business to be Jesus' disciple mean breaking off contact with his colleagues and friends?
6. Do you have as many non-Christian friends now as you did when you first became a believer?
7. How could you introduce your friendship network to Jesus, like Levi did with his banquet?

Ask God to help you find creative ways to get involved in the lives of people who are not yet Christ followers.

27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. 29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them.

30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?" 31 Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent."

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Teach me, Lord, how to live the gospel naturally among those that You care deeply about.

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