Many people try to forge new paths in their lives, but when they do people ask them, “Why do you have to forge a new path? What’s wrong with the status quo?” Legalism says you can’t forge your own, new path. You have to follow our rules, it says. Grace says otherwise.
A long time ago, some people asked Jesus a question. They said, “John’s students and the Pharisees fast. Why don’t your students do the same?” Jesus gave them an answer, but quickly moved on to the real point. He said, “If you pour new wine into old wineskins, then those old wineskins will break. It doesn’t work. New wine has to be poured into new wineskins. They won’t break.” Sometimes, people have to break out and create their own new practices (new wine in new wineskins), contrary to the status quo, even if there isn’t anything wrong with the status quo (for example, John’s students still did fast, like the Pharisees). However, Jesus told his students they didn’t have to fast. Jesus was saying that he has given us permission to pour new wine into new wineskins. (We don't have to adopt the practices of others, even if they question us.)
Here are some examples:
In 1946, Mother Teresa received what she called “the call within the call.” She had a heart for the destitute in India. She left her convent and lived among the poor out of her own sense of autonomy and began her hospice work in 1948. In 1950, she went to the Vatican and received permission to start a new Catholic order. Today the order has 4,000 nuns who work in orphanages, hospices, and other care centers around the world.
Mother Teresa poured new wine into new wineskins. Was there anything wrong with the status quo? Not necessarily. But, Mother Teresa had to become her own person, the one God had created her to be. Do you see that she started first and asked the Pope for permission later?
Tim Keller (a pastor from Manhattan) describes a perfect example of pouring new wine into new wineskins through the marriage relationship. When two people marry, they bring each other’s upbringing with them. Keller describes how he and his wife ran into a problem about changing diapers. In Keller’s childhood, his dad didn’t change the diapers. I think his dad did other things (maybe washing dishes for instance) that his mom didn’t do. So, their idea of sharing was to divide up responsibilities rather than to share each of them. In his wife’s childhood, contrary to Keller’s parents, I believe they tended to share all responsibilities rather than dividing them up. This means they both washed dishes and changed diapers.
One day, Keller’s wife asked him to change the baby’s diaper. Keller said he didn’t plan on changing diapers at all and they got into an argument. In a situation like this one, many of us get into a “right vs. wrong” mentality. This is defective thinking. The reality is that Keller and his wife had to pour new wine into new wineskins. They had to exercise new practices in their new household. They had to be their own married couple, instead of thinking that marriage is reduced simply to what their parents used to do. They had to come up with their own unique set of practices in washing dishes and changing diapers. They had to become their own persons.
In the 70s and 80s, many people left their historic Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches. They set sail towards new horizons and founded grassroots churches which later became their own denominations. Vineyard and Calvary are notable examples.
I’m sure many people in the historic denominations asked them, “Why do you have to leave? What’s wrong with the status quo? Why do you have to do things differently?” In some cases, they needed to leave because the historic denomination was not theologically grounded, but in other situations, they needed to become their own persons and exercise themselves as their own newly formed congregations. In a sense, they were corporately becoming adults and taking responsibility for the consequences that came with doing so.
Are there things in your life that you want to say yes to or no to, but you’re afraid? You want to tell your boss that you won’t take the extra work. You want to play golf instead of serving food at the soup kitchen this week. You want to try out that new house church. You want to leave a dysfunctional relationship. You want to try out that big dream. You want to leave something lucrative and become a school teacher. You want to start a new ministry. A million voices call your name from every direction. Voices from the past. Opinions of others. False responsibilities that aren’t really yours. This is defective thinking. I’m not saying to be careless.** Weigh in the options of advice from others. The status quo is often a good choice, just make sure it's your choice and not because you're feeling pressured to do so. If you want to, start a new charity in India, create your own new marriage practices, or start a new church structure like Vineyard or Calvary. Jesus has given you permission to pour new wine into new wineskins, if that is the course you would like to take.
[**Some people aren’t psychologically healthy and need a time of healing before they make major decisions. It might be that joining a support group or meeting with a counselor might actually be the big decision they have to make. Their dysfunctional friends might ask them why they even need to take such drastic measures. Why change the status quo? In the end however, a good support group or counselor is only helping them to become more and more autonomous. Through their support the individual will feel empowered to pour new wine into new wineskins when it is the right time. ]
No comments:
Post a Comment