Did You Know That The Church is For Sinners?
By Artgirl
@owstalaga (4830)
Philippines
June 2, 2025 9:38pm CST
When I was still a non-practicing Catholic I just went to church on Sundays, just because it's the norm. Like, I could skip and not go anytime I was lazy to go or whatever. I didn't care because who knows that not going to Sunday mass is a mortal sin, right?
Fast forward to Lent 2023 and my so-called spiritual renewal and I eventually found out about what Jesus said.
In Luke 5:31-32 it is written:
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Wow right?
Actually I never thought nor knew He said such a thing in all the years I've lived until I saw it online! That was around last year or sometime in 2023? Don't remember anymore, nor which post it was but this attached pic is a recent one I found last night. It reminded me of that first time I learned about what Jesus said. Haha.
How about you, were you aware of this before? Or how did you find out about it?





4 people like this
3 responses
@vandana7 (102192)
• India
3 Jun
I am not a Catholic or Christian though I have studied in a missionary school, where I had both Christian and Catholic friends, and often went to Chapel with them. I also seek help of Jesus and other saints just like I ask help of our gods, or allah, when I am in dire need of help. Its like, this is the road, are you an ambulance anywhere near me, please come urgently, whichever god you are.
Coming to what is mentioned there, I think you are extrapolating it wrongly. Church or any holy place is to say thanks to god, to help someone, who is seeking help at that moment, to get help if needed, and to find answers to more profound questions, apart from seeking forgiveness for our sins and the right path. We can always be mistaken about what is going on around us.
Jesus in specific came to help sinners repent. That era, many may have thought there is no god, and went about doing wrongs. People had to be made to realize that is not the way to live, it is about live and let live in god's world. Sinners are usually powerful in the world, and so a person as profound as Jesus had to be born to prevent sinners continuing on their path. To make them realize and repent. If I say you are wrong, you wouldn't like it, but if somebody who is powerful and can do miracles, you would be inclined to listen.I think those lines are meant that way.
2 people like this
@owstalaga (4830)
• Philippines
3 Jun
You have a point. And because of those points, it leads people to repent, thus the church becomes the physical representation of a hospital for sinners. 

2 people like this
@vandana7 (102192)
• India
3 Jun
@owstalaga I still disagree. I already mentioned....church and other holy places are for
a. Thanking god for the favor or whatever
b. Being gracious and helping someone unfortunate
c. Seeking help from god and other benefactors
d. To think and reflect upon deeper realities of life like creation, and creator which our ordinary lives do not allow us to thanks to innumerable distraction.
e. To seek forgiveness for some wrong we committed because that can live with us preventing us from progressing. When we seek forgiveness, we are telling god we realize our mistake and regret it. It is for god to take it in his record and decide whether we are genuinely repenting and whether there is anyway we can repair the harm done, and give us opportunity to do so, and so on. Sometimes, minor transgressions lead to major calamities.
So thinking that the church is only for sinners is a myopic view ..thinking its purpose to be only the (e) point in the list.
TEDX had a situation. A vehicle was coming down a steep slope...on one side were workers, trying to repair and on the other side school children...and the vehicle's brake failed...driver was forced to take a decision whom to kill. He did not set out to kill for starters, he still killed, would he be a sinner? Would he feel guilty? And if he feels guilty, would he not want forgiveness?
1 person likes this
@owstalaga (4830)
• Philippines
3 Jun
@vandana7 Lol it's ok if you can't see the connection. I'm not saying the church is only for sinners, am saying we are all sinners. Nobody is without sin.
You have great points on there and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
We are not goody goodies just because we go to church but we pray/worship because as sinners we need the grace of God to be better people.


2 people like this
@luisadannointed (7810)
• Philippines
3 Jun
Yes, when I fully understand things, I was raised in a catholic school
What Jesus did on the cross is THE BEST! Our salvation -- our life in His kingdom for eternity, not from hell.
All we need is to put our faith in Him for the rest of our lives and accept Him for who He is, the only living God and savior of our souls forever. Good works can't save us, but only our faith in Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9
New Living Translation Version
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
But remember, because we believe in Him who is a good God, we are expected to be good along our journey with Him.
1 person likes this
@owstalaga (4830)
• Philippines
3 Jun
Amen! Good works + faith = salvation. We have to do good works for our fellowmen. Without it all those in need will not have people to help them. Check out the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy to know more. It's good to know were raised Catholic too.
1 person likes this
@owstalaga (4830)
• Philippines
8 Jun
@luisadannointed Ah that is the difference with non-Catholic Christians. Hehe. It's alright, such is life these days. Let's keep praying everyday so the Lord will show us the Truth in everything. Daily prayer is a must for us Christians. God bless you and your family. 

1 person likes this
@luisadannointed (7810)
• Philippines
3 Jun
@owstalaga Nope! Only faith is needed to achieve Salvation. Good works will never save you. But your faith alone to God... and since you have faith in him it is natural that you follow him.
1 person likes this

@innertalks (23017)
• Australia
4 Jun
I think that churches can be a place of healing, but it is God, and Jesus, who do the healing, even as Jesus himself said, when he was on the Earth, that he himself could do nothing, but what God did through him.
We all need healing from our sins, and a Church can help us to understand our sins, and to seek God's forgiveness for them too.
