Reputations are powerful influences on our lives-both the reputations of those with whom we keep company and our reputations among them. As social mammals, we are continually being watched and watching those around us...to see what is being said, to whom it is said, and with whom it is said.

Jesus certainly had a questionable reputation among the religious upper crust. It was not the reputation one would necessarily desire. We read it in the first verses of Luke 15:1-10. The Pharisees and the scribes--the "religious" good guys--said of Jesus (loosely translated): He's the kind of person who is kind to sinners and even eats with them! (Luke 15:2). Young people today would say: He hangs with a really sketchy crowd!

Never one to back down from an opportunity to stir up a crowd, Jesus responds by telling two parables--both of which involve looking out for the outcast. In the first, he talks about hunting for the lost sheep; in the second, he talks about a single lost coin. Both parables teach a similar lesson: sometimes the value is not in the crowd of the majority, but in the minority. In other words, he said: rejoice more about what you can do for a single person who has been marginalized than what you can do to impress the "good guys." In contemporary wording: Jesus encourages us to hang with the "sketchy crowd" if we can show them what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

That's where his reputation comes in again. Jesus was most likely delighted to be known as the kind of guy who avoids impressing the religious crowd in favor of showing God's love to those whom society considers misfits. The two parables remind us that even if the "in-crowd" seems comfortable and adequate, as long as there is one or two who remain in the "out-crowd," our work in building God's Kingdom is not over.

Jesus' words challenge us to learn that we may talk about faith and our love of God to everyone at church and to those who make us feel good. But Jesus wants us to be aware that those people are the ones "who need no repentance" (15:7), who do not need to hear us talk. We need to be acting on God's love and God's acceptance of sinners and "sketchy" people, so much so that we can intentionally place ourselves among them and not be afraid of where we are.

Maybe it's time to test out a new reputation. Let us be challenged to take our faith into crowds of people the Church often ignores-those who don't dress the part, speak the same language, or even act like "God-fearing folk." If you tend to find yourself talking only with the "Pharisees and scribes," then back away and hang with those who really need to feel God's love and presence in a tangible way.