Wine & Wineskins
I feel like a child sometimes. And it's not because I'm currently having a psychological wrestling match with my inner-child. Rather, I feel like a child because I am entering what feels like such virgin territory as a vocational minister.
I'm planting a house church network in the Bronx. We are facing the emerging culture in an extremely diverse city. And as we do so, we are in pursuit of new wine and new wineskins. Although the concept of house church networks appears to be at least as old as the New Testament, it is still really quite new in our contemporary setting. We are seeking a new wineskin that provides the space for drinking of the new wine of Jesus Christ in all His fullness. We are seeking community, mission, authenticity. We want to know and be known. And yet like a child, we are so afraid.
Contructing new wineskins, there are questions that must be asked. What if we meet as in a new wineskin and experience church in a living room or a Starbucks or a city park, but we still "hide" from others just as if we were on the back pew waiting to escape after the final 'Amen?' What if we organize highly effective outreach programs, but fail to have passion for mission or compassion for the people we seek to reach? What if we have flexible structures, but we remain inflexible to God's movement among us?
I suppose we don't always do real well at answering those questions. At least not all the time... maybe most of the time. Still, sometimes we drink of the new wine, and when we do, we drink deeply. Sometimes we stumble onto the experience of a healthy level of transperancy in Christian community. And sometimes we have a vibrant gathering of mutual sharing and openness. Sometimes we have genuine confession and real healing. And at times a new visitor shows up and declares (in so many words): 'God is among you!' It doesn't always happen. Many of us are just so comfortable with old wine, but when we drink that new wine, we take one step closer to the essence of church as community in a society that drives us away from authentic community.
I don't feel so bad that I have to say 'sometimes' because we're new at this. We all are. We're used to experiencing presentations and programs and 'calling it a day.' And so we are like a child seeking out the experience of church in a world that is challenging and yet invigorating. We are longing for new wine in a generation that is thirsting. And through new wineskins, we are inviting Jesus, the giver of new wine, to fill us and to take us where He would want us to go.
It's kind of like being child learning how to behave in church all over again. But didn't Jesus say, 'become like?...' I suppose He did, so maybe this feeling that overwhelms me is not so bad.
*(In case you haven't heard, the wine/wineskin analogy is a reference to a very breif parable in Matthew 9.)
I'm planting a house church network in the Bronx. We are facing the emerging culture in an extremely diverse city. And as we do so, we are in pursuit of new wine and new wineskins. Although the concept of house church networks appears to be at least as old as the New Testament, it is still really quite new in our contemporary setting. We are seeking a new wineskin that provides the space for drinking of the new wine of Jesus Christ in all His fullness. We are seeking community, mission, authenticity. We want to know and be known. And yet like a child, we are so afraid.
Contructing new wineskins, there are questions that must be asked. What if we meet as in a new wineskin and experience church in a living room or a Starbucks or a city park, but we still "hide" from others just as if we were on the back pew waiting to escape after the final 'Amen?' What if we organize highly effective outreach programs, but fail to have passion for mission or compassion for the people we seek to reach? What if we have flexible structures, but we remain inflexible to God's movement among us?
I suppose we don't always do real well at answering those questions. At least not all the time... maybe most of the time. Still, sometimes we drink of the new wine, and when we do, we drink deeply. Sometimes we stumble onto the experience of a healthy level of transperancy in Christian community. And sometimes we have a vibrant gathering of mutual sharing and openness. Sometimes we have genuine confession and real healing. And at times a new visitor shows up and declares (in so many words): 'God is among you!' It doesn't always happen. Many of us are just so comfortable with old wine, but when we drink that new wine, we take one step closer to the essence of church as community in a society that drives us away from authentic community.
I don't feel so bad that I have to say 'sometimes' because we're new at this. We all are. We're used to experiencing presentations and programs and 'calling it a day.' And so we are like a child seeking out the experience of church in a world that is challenging and yet invigorating. We are longing for new wine in a generation that is thirsting. And through new wineskins, we are inviting Jesus, the giver of new wine, to fill us and to take us where He would want us to go.
It's kind of like being child learning how to behave in church all over again. But didn't Jesus say, 'become like?...' I suppose He did, so maybe this feeling that overwhelms me is not so bad.
*(In case you haven't heard, the wine/wineskin analogy is a reference to a very breif parable in Matthew 9.)
posted by Jared | 5:49 PM
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