A Gentle Answer: Our 'Secret Weapon' in an Age of Us Against Them

by Scott Sauls

This movement of Jesus toward Zacchaeus—before Zacchaeus does anything good or does anything for Jesus—is another feature of Christ that sets him apart from every other religious leader, philosopher, politician, or self-help guru. Jesus—like the Christian faith he came to establish—says to Zacchaeus and to every other person, “You belong even before you come to believe.” We see this dynamic also in Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in the act of adultery. Before he says to her that she must leave her life of sin, he first assures her that as far as he is concerned, she is not condemned. “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus says, “go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11). If you reverse the order of these two sentences, if you say, “Leave your sin” before you will consider saying, “Neither do I condemn you,” then you have ceased to speak the language of Christ, and you have ceased to reflect the heart of Christ. With Christ and with Christ-attuned Christians, belonging comes before believing.