You have heard it said that even Jesus hung out with tax-collectors & prostitutes so how dare we judge such people. But what is not often pointed out in these appeals for loving tolerance is that Jesus expected these people to change, to repent & no longer be corrupt tax-collectors (corruption & tax-collection was synonymous at the time) or prostitutes.  Thus, Jesus only hung at with them to change them.  He in no way was approving of their sins.  These tax-collectors & prostitutes became FORMER corrupt tax-collectors & FORMER prostitutes.

To illustrate the point even more let us look at the accounts of a tax-collector & a prostitute & Jesus’ interaction with them.

Luke 19:2,5-10 NKJV

Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich...And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up [into the tree] and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they [the crowd] saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

We see here, Zacchaeus repenting of being corrupt & making right any wrong doing.  Do we think Jesus would have remained with an unrepentant tax-collector?  Do we think Jesus would have said “salvation had come to this house” if Zacchaeus was unrepentant?

Jesus DIDN’T hang out with unrepentant tax-collectors, nor did He “tolerate” & “accept” them for who they are.  Jesus expected them to have a heart change.

Next we see the account of a prostitute.

John 8:3-11 NKJV

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The point in this is that Jesus expected that this woman would NOT continue in her sin, He even instructed her to GO AND SIN NO MORE.  We aren’t talking about any & every sin, but specifically the act of adultery.  She would obviously still grapple with sin as do we all but to be identified as an adulteress should have been now past her.

But the way some people portray Jesus & the obligation of Christians is that of unconditional acceptance.  We see just from these two stories, CHANGED people, who are accepted.

Jesus DIDN’T hang out with unrepentant prostitutes, nor did He “tolerate” & “accept” them for who they are.  Jesus expected them to have a heart change.

We further see in 1 Cor 6:8-11 that Christians WERE these things but are not expected to be continued to be identified with these things:

1 Cor 6:8-11 NKJV

No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

So, next time you see some non-Christian & especially someone calling themselves a Christian espousing that we need to be more tolerant & accepting of corrupt activity, remember these stories & remember 1 Cor 6:8-11 where we see people WERE these things & only by the grace of God & His changing our hearts are were now sanctified & justified, but also expected to go & sin no more.