I was watching the local evening news a few days ago and the story that the reporter was telling was about a few people who had caused some problems in a usually safe and comfortable neighborhood. As the reporter interviewed several of the neighbors in the area, they commented that they had moved to this particular neighborhood to get away from all the "Riff Raff" that no one likes to live around. And now, they had these kinds of people in the areas. The concept here was that these people had worked hard to save their money, to buy their nice house, in a safe neighborhood, so they would be insulated from some of the riff raffs that create some type of problems. Ummmmm...I wonder...what exactly is a riff raff?
From Webster:disreputable persons
From Wikipedia:Riff Raff, belongs to a category of insults focusing on behavioral characteristics (such as mannerisms, lifestyles) rather than overt racial characteristics
From the Urban Dictionary:generally people of a lower class
From Dictionary.com: People regarded as disreputable or worthless
Oxford Dictionary:disreputable or undesirable people
Okay, I think I kind of got an idea of who these riff raffs may be! I have been thinking about this scenario for several days now...Do we as Christians also try to get away from the Riff Raff? Do we move out of the areas that the riff raffs claim as home? Are we leaving the riff raff behind to birth more riff raffs that will then move into other "safe" neighborhoods. By abandoning them, are we causing them to follow us to new safer neighborhoods with low populations of riff raffs and other undesirables which in turn makes us have to leave again to find newer and safer neighborhoods?
As a follower of Jesus, I had to ask myself; Were there any riff raffs in Jesus' day? If so, who were they? And, what did Jesus do with his riff raffs? Oh, yes...you got it...I was asking the all important question...WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
Certainly we must say that harlots, tax collectors, widows, children, women, adulterers, pagans, diseased, orphaned, handicapped, and a few others were treated as though they were the riff raff...at least they fit the definition, right? They were the marginalized, ostracized, abandoned, unwelcomed, unwanted, poor, undesirable and disreputable of Jesus' day. So, how did Jesus deal with these riff raffs? Well, as I read about Jesus, I see that he went to them...he moved into their neighborhood...he incarnated himself into their life. In fact, he spent much of his time with them...and, he didn't leave them...or try to escape from them...or insulate himself from their ugliness...rather, he embraced them...invited them to a different kind of life, and loved them when no one else wanted to.
So, who are our abandoned, marginalized, unwanted, detested, ostracized and riffed raffed of our day? And, should we move out of the riff raff's neighborhood, or move into it? And, is it possible to embrace and love our riff raffs? Hey wait a minute...I wonder...just thinking here...is it possible, just maybe...am I one of those riff raffs?
