Wineskins

“No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say” (Luke 5: 37-39).

These words of Jesus were spoken in response to repeated attacks from the Pharisees – religious leaders of His day, who objected to the people Jesus was calling to be His disciples. Perhaps the Pharisees wanted to be a part of this miracle worker’s ministry (Luke 5:17), but instead Jesus rejected them and chose fishermen (5:10) and a tax collector (5:27). At least 4 times in chapters 5 and 6, they sought to discredit Jesus and His gangly group of unfit followers.

So Jesus tried to explain to the Pharisees that His teachings of love, grace, and forgiveness (6:20-38)would not fit into their religious traditions of duty, law, and vengeance. In the thinking of the Pharisees, “The old is good enough” (5:39). Thus, Jesus sought out common people who were not married to the old religious traditions, in whom He could disciple in the ways of grace.

We have faced a similar story in our efforts to train folks here in the simplistic principles of CPM (Church Planting Movement). Our religious leaders want to be a part of something new, but when they see what the ‘new’ is, they react. So, a modern retelling of the ‘wineskin’ story might sound something like this:

When the church elders saw that the CPM leaders were meeting in homes, they balked, “Why do you shun our church buildings and programs?” The CPM leaders replied, “God’s church is redeemed people, not pews and programs. Jesus didn’t come to build buildings, but to build people.”

The church elders were aghast when they saw the uneducated leaders of these so called house churches, and that none of them had ever been to Bible School. The CPM leaders explained, “God desires obedience, not a seminary degree. It’s not the educated God seeks after, but the faithful.”

Again, when the church elders observed that these untrained house church members were actually leading the Lord’s Supper and performing baptisms, they cried foul. “You cannot do this! Who gives them authority to perform the sacred ordinances?” To which the CPM leaders replied, “Jesus did not come to build a hierarchy, but to exalt the humble. He gave authority to all believers to “make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Finally, the CPM leaders explained, “You don’t mix your delicious breakfast cereal with soured milk, otherwise both will become spoiled. You don’t attach a jet engine to your clanky bicycle; just imagine what would happen. And you don’t let Manny Pacquiao box your senior citizens; there’s no way a senior citizen could win. The Biblical ways of growing God’s kingdom don’t fit with your outdated traditions. You say, “these traditions have worked for us before,” but you refuse to see that God’s Church is rapidly multiplying in ways you cannot accept. Therefore, we choose believers who have a heart for obedience, rather than a mind for tradition.

Well, so much for my modern day ‘wineskin’ story. It’s interesting to note that half of Jesus’ disciples came from a small fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida, and not from the major cities or learning centers of His time. All of us are to be His ministers, regardless of our training or background. May we be the new ‘wineskins’ that carry the refreshing truths of God’s kingdom to a needy world.