Calling All Sinners

A congregation recently handed what was left of their resources (including their buildings) to another congregation that is growing. The older congregation had been growing smaller and smaller because they had not grasped this truth:

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him.

While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”    (Matthew 9:9-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©)

The dying congregation was led by a pastor. They had no one who was an evangelist.