After growing up in church and then finishing Bible college, I went on to complete a second degree at a public university. That’s when I started hanging out with “tax collectors and sinners.”

A few weeks after completing my second degree, I moved to China. Counting the number of Christians in China is complicated, but when I first arrived in the 1990s, the Pew Research Center estimates that less than 1% of the population was Christian. Current estimates range from 2-9%. Regardless of the number, followers of Jesus are somewhat hard to find in the out-of-the-way place I call home. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, most foreigners, including Christians, have left the area. Who am I supposed to be friends with if not “sinners?”

After more than twenty years working and living in out-of-the-way China, here’s the truth. I like hanging out with sinners. I like sinners. In fact, I like them so much that I refuse to label them “sinners” and instead love them as humans with—just like me—heart and soul, hopes and hurts, struggles and successes…

Have I influenced my humans for the better? I hope so! But the problem is that I might be the biggest sinner of them all. I often come across as a prideful know-it-all, especially when I’ve tried to apply my faith standards to them. Over the years, I’ve learned to share how verses and principles apply to me (and me alone unless my humans choose otherwise), but I’m still slow to listen to their ideas and perspectives and quick to speak my opinions and advice.

Have my humans polluted me? Absolutely not. Instead, they have changed me. For good. I’ve learned many lessons from them about accepting outsiders in, being patient with prideful fools, and giving the benefit of the doubt when doubts are abundantly obvious. In other words, I’ve learned from how they have treated—and loved—me.

My humans, with all our cultural, philosophical, and personal differences, have enriched my life. Hanging out with them has made me more like Jesus as I’ve learned from them and aspired to know and represent Him better. In our closeness, mismatched philosophies sometimes cause chafing. But, then, I try to pull them toward my standards, and frankly, sometimes, they pull me up to theirs.

My experiences make me wonder about your humans. What people of mismatched philosophies do you love and like hanging with? How have they influenced you for good?

Photo by Belle Co.