21st Century Wineskins

I am currently reading the Gospel of John. It is one of my favorite books of the Bible because it shows a different side to Jesus than the other three gospels. I’ve only read through chapter 5 so far, but it seems like there are many more stories of Jesus relating to people, all kinds of people, than in the other gospels. In John, the relational aspect of an encounter with Jesus is central to the story.

Here are a few examples.

▸ John 1 – Andrew meets Jesus and asks where He is staying. Jesus invites Andrew and another person to stay with Him at the place he was lodging since it was late. As Jesus and the two guests enjoyed a meal together, they must have discussed the mission of Jesus since the next day Andrew tells Peter, his brother, that they have found the Messiah.

▸ John 2 – Jesus is at a wedding feast celebrating the joy of the bride and groom as they start their life together. Here, amidst the good times of the wedding reception, Jesus changes water into wine. This miracle “manifested His glory” and caused His followers to believe He was God’s Son.

▸ John 2 – The antagonistic relationship between Jesus and the rigid religious establishment of the day is seen in the story of Jesus chasing out the money changers and merchants from the temple. Jesus’ commitment to guard the honor of His Father’s name led Him to buck the system and point out the errors of the religious leaders who questioned His actions.

▸ John 3 – Jesus and Nicodemus converse late into the evening about spiritual matters like God’s love for the world, Jesus’ role as Savior, and how we can enter into a relationship with God by faith.

▸ John 4 – While the disciples have gone off to get some take out, Jesus talks with a woman, answering her questions about how best to worship God. It doesn’t bother Jesus at all that He is breaking with convention by talking to a woman with a shady reputation, even thought it surprises the disciples.

▸ John 4 – When the woman reports to her neighbors about her conversation with Jesus the whole town comes out to speak with Him. They invite Him to stay with them and He accepts – another break with conventional wisdom since the folks who offered the hospitality were Samaritans and considered both ethnic and spiritual half-breeds by the Jewish people of the time.

▸ John 4 & 5 – A social servant and a social burden are the recipients of healing at the hand of Jesus. The compassion of Christ was not reserved for any particular economic class. Jesus was just as willing to help the well positioned as He was the poor and helpless.

▸ John 5 – The religious elite and Jesus bang heads again in the last part of the chapter. While Jesus was loving and compassionate to people, He was not afraid to point out that some folks were off base in their religious beliefs.

What lessons can we learn from Jesus as we seek to share our faith with others? Here are four principles I took away from these stories

1. Spiritual conversations can take place in the course of everyday life. We don’t have to look for special opportunities or create artificial events to talk about our faith in Jesus. We can talk about our relationship with God in the course of our daily conversation with people. It’s is more natural that way and far more likely to be well received.

2. Social/relational settings seem to be the natural arena for spiritual conversations. Jesus talked about His mission over dinner, at a wedding, in a one-to-one conversation at home and at the “water cooler.” It was in the context of relationship (some of them quite newly formed) that Jesus spoke God’s truth into people’s lives.

3. Don’t be afraid to go against the flow of the religious establishment. Many of the people Jesus built relationships with were not the kind of folks accepted into the polite society of the religious community of His day. Sometimes we need to hang with “sinners” and that is going to tick off some “saints.” That’s OK.

4. Sometimes we need to speak God’s truth in love to people, even if they don’t respond positively. Jesus was not afraid to point people in the right direction when they had mistaken notions about God. Not everyone Jesus spoke to believed Him, and He was God’s son. So don’t be afraid to lovingly tell people what God has placed on your heart, and don’t worry about the results.

Post a comment about a lesson you learned from these stories or others you’ve read recently in your Bible reading so we can learn from each other.