We made a small mistake in the new Christianity Explored material

Thank you for buying the new edition of Christianity Explored. We hope that it will serve you well as you reach out with the gospel message to those around you. Unfortunately, we have discovered an error in Session 2. A question has been included in the participant’s handbook which should not be there. We will be removing this question when we reprint the handbooks in the near future, but in the meantime wanted to let you know about it so that you can plan accordingly.

The extra question is on page 14 of the handbook and asks:

“Why did Jesus mix with ‘bad people’ (sinners) rather than ‘good people’?”

You may want simply to explain to participants that the question is there by error. However, if they ask you about it, or you choose to discuss it anyway, the following notes may help.

Why did Jesus mix with “bad people” (sinners) rather than “good people”?

Jesus knew that our relationship with God is more important than anything else – which means sin is our biggest problem. Jesus also knew that he has the power and authority to forgive sin (Mark 2:10). The “good people”, such as the religious leaders, didn’t think there was any problem with their relationship with God. It was the “sinners” (“bad people”) who knew that they needed help from Jesus. As we will see next week Jesus came to save sinners, so it was natural that he would spend time with them.

Note: The most natural link to this question in Mark is Mark 2:13-17, especially verse 17: “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” If participants have worked through the Follow Up material given after Session 1 (pages 8-9 of the handbook), they will have read this passage before coming to Session 2.

We apologise for any confusion this mistake may have caused, and hope that it will not distract from the central message in Session 2 about the identity of Jesus. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to contact us.