Mark 2:13-17

Jesus is being less and less accepted by the religious elite. But if they closed every synagogue to Him He would still have an audience. As humans we want to set up barriers that allow us to feel in some way superior.

Jesus went to where the people were. At one such crossroads Jesus invited Matthew to follow him. Matthew worked for Herod, which was not wrong, but he had been hated all the same. He would not be someone the religious elite would have embraced. We often paint the picture of Jesus' followers with soft colors thinking they may have been a little rough here and there, but basically lovable. It is more likely they were all jerks. They would have been people who were hard to love and difficult people to be with. 

Notice also, Jesus never stopped looking for disciples. If we were to draw a pie chart of how much of our life is committed and dedicated to making disciples, how big would that piece of pie be? If Scripture is true and we find what we seek, the reason we are not finding and making disciples is that we are not looking for them. Matthew is a case study on effective church growth. Matthew was won, became a disciple and then introduced everyone he knew to Christ. The only persons Jesus can't help are those who don't think they are sick.   In Jesus' day you did not go to the doctor to find out if you were sick, you went to the doctor only when you knew you were sick.  Only those who know they need Him will come to Christ.