There is a stain of blood in America when it comes to reaching out to neighbors who have differing cultural background. From the hostile way African-American’s were treated during the days of slavery and beyond, to our modern day trials with illegal immigrants crossing our borders; Americans have been hostile toward each other in the area of race. What makes this even more tragic is God has called His children to cross cultural boundaries to build bridges of relationship that will carry the weight of the good news of Jesus in order to transform lives, families, cultures, and make worshippers of God out of the nations.
When Jesus walked on this earth, the tension between Jews and Samaritans was intense. Jews disliked Samaritans so much that they would work very hard to avoid them and their territory as much as possible.[1] These tensions dated back for centuries before Jesus walked Jerusalem. When the Jews returned from Exile in Babylon, the Samaritans offer to help rebuild the temple was refused.[2] This only helped to exacerbate the bitterness between the two people groups.
One would think the Jews and the Samaritans could find common ground in the fact they worshipped the same God; however, the Samaritans used only a portion of the Old Testament, which was the Pentateuch.[3] The Jews, on the other hand, enjoyed much more of the Scriptures in the Psalms, the Prophets and other books.[4] Also, instead of worshipping together, around 400 B.C. the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim. Their refusal to worship with the Jews increased the divide between them. This cultural bitterness created a culture where a “Samaritan” did not only mean someone from the city of Samaria, but also someone who is a member of that race as well.[5]
Religion played a great deal in the hearts and minds of Jews and Samaritans; thus these differences between them were a cause for great consternation. By today’s standards people may look at these issues as insignificant; yet religious differences were at the heart of much of their cultural anxiety toward each other.
The ancient Greco-Roman[6] household model recognized the husband as the ruler of the house and it would have been common for children and wives to submit to this rule.[7] They were not valued in the same way men are valued. In ancient times it was understood that women were weaker than a man; this was looked at as a good thing, even desirable. Yet unlike in today’s worldview, women were unable to make decisions on their own because of their weakness. The idea would have been a weak body (compared to the male physique) also meant a weak mind.[8] Because of this rabbis would not teach women; this made it difficult for women to get an education.[9] It would have been radical that women would sit at the feet of Jesus while He taught them; or that Paul would instruct Timothy to have the women taught.[10]
In this culture men would rarely speak to women in public, even if the woman were his wife! And single men would never speak to or touch another female. It would have been expected for women to be in a more subservient role in this society. Because women were not considered equal to men, they were expected to submit to men. The relationship between a husband and his wife was one where the wife submitted to the husband. She would take on his ways, his friends, even his religion. Historian Tertullian even noted the radical mistreatment of Christian wives by their unbelieving husbands.[11] This could create tension for the wife who was expected to submit. Even more pressure was added to this as it was thought in order to prosper and have well being there had to be order in the home; which meant if the wife did not want to be blamed for something going wrong she would submit to her husband.[12] In this antagonistic culture toward women, the lack of submission by a wife, especially a Christian wife, could prove hostile.
Theological and Biblical
It is exciting to know that our God is a pursuing God. This is revealed throughout John’s gospel as he reveals his understanding of mission. God the Father sends John the Baptist, He sends Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit, and this sending culminates in the sending of His Church.[13] John records Jesus’ words, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23 NASB)
Because the Samaritans and the Jews worshipped in different temples, in different geographical places (Samaritans worship on Mt. Gerizim and he Jews worshipped in Jerusalem), there was division in their worship. They may be worshipping the same God, but their ideas of separation because of cultural, religious, perhaps even political differences. Jesus stated, “an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” (John 4:21 NASB) There is no longer a need to be in a certain temple, at a certain location, or to be a privileged sex or race to worship God. God is above these things; He is “Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NASB) Like the divisions in first-century Middle Eastern cultures, the divisions that people have today need the same Scriptural balm to heal them. Some denominations will not worship God with other denominations. In some areas of America whites will not worship with people who have a different skin tone; the racism in this country is not much different than the racism between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. God is above and beyond specific cultural mores that divide; He is wanting to have unity in His body[14] so that all people at all times in every nation will worship Him.
True worship is the worship of God “in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NASB) Because God is spirit, this is how humanity must worship Him. It is not the human spirit Jesus is referring to in this passage; humanity does not need to work itself up in some kind of hysteria in order to get some spiritual high in order to be worshipping God. No, what Jesus means is the true worship is “worship that is dynamically animated by God’s Holy Spirit.”[15] The Spirit of God, dwelling in true believers, ignites true worship. It is not something conjured up, it is something initiated by the Spirit of God Himself. We see again the initiation by God even in the worship of Himself. Because God is spirit, He is not bound to any specific locale, as the Samaritan woman seems to understand worship. He is invisible, He is life giving, and He is unknowable unless He reveals himself.[16] His initiation and pursuit of people is rewarded by the worship and praise of His adoring children.
The transcendence of the Father means that He is not bound by physical formalities. True worship of God is worship that is honest, genuine, and from the heart.[17] Humanity need not have a certain cultural form to worship God; or be a part of a certain racial heritage, or speak a certain language, or be a part of a certain religious tradition to be able to worship God in spirit and truth.
The role of Christ in mission is he is the connecting person between the Father and humanity. One need only be connected to God in relationship through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ through His death, burial and resurrection.[18] In the context of this Scripture, there is no longer a need to travel to a physical temple to worship God; children of God can worship Him anywhere and everywhere. He is the drink that quenches every spiritual thirsting of humanity. When the nations drink of Jesus, they will drink of “living water” so they will “never thirst” again. (John 4:10, 14 NASB)
Missiological
In this text, Jesus confronted the Samaritan woman with her sin; “for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.” (John 4:17-18 NASB) In this culture, unlike in today’s culture, living together would have been considered morally wrong.[19] In her conviction, she recognizes a Messianic element in Jesus as she went back and told her friends (4:39) what she had learned about Jesus; instantly she becomes a missionary to her own home town evangelizing and sharing about Jesus, the long awaited Messiah. (4:25) We know the harvest is ready when there is conviction of sin and an understanding that one needs a savior, the Savior, to cleanse them from their wrong doing and give them new life.
Jesus did not wait for the Samaritan woman to come find Him; the text states that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria.” (John 4:4 NASB) Given the hostile nature of Jewish/Samaritan relations, and the fact Jews would go out of their way to avoid Samaria, Jesus makes a point to go here. He is pursuing this woman. He is intentional. The first missiological lesson is we cannot wait for the lost to come to us, but we must be intentional to go to the lost.
Jesus not only intentionally went where the lost were, but He pursued the marginalized of society. It is lost on modern readers how radical this is that Jesus – a single, Jewish man - was talking to not just a woman, but to a Samaritan woman. Jesus did not let the cultural traditions stop Him from reaching out to the least of society. The second missiological lesson that can be gleaned from this passage is that current ministry must include intentional outreach to the marginalized in our society. Those who are hurting, broken and on the outskirts will not come to the church; the church must go to them.
The third missiological lesson that can be gleaned from this passage is quite clear: the only message the lost need to hear is the message of the gospel. Too many churches and ministries want to build a pragmatic, program driven ministry that not only does it not reach the lost, it does not even think about doing cross-cultural ministry to the marginalized. It has become more important in modern Christian circles to build programs and ministries that reach other Christians, rather than to do the work of preaching the gospel to the poor, broken, sick, and destitute for the purpose of introducing them to a God who loves them and wants to give them new life. We would rather sit in tepid pools of luke-warm ministry than to be refreshed by the everlasting waters of Jesus Christ. As odd as it may sound to modern ears, the mission of missions is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If preaching Jesus was good enough for Jesus, (“I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:26 NASB)), then it is certainly good enough for His church to build a ministry of mission that preaches salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The wells in my context, which include Littleton and Englewood, surround our church. We are situated in, if not the hardest section of this part of Denver, then certainly one of them. Our area receives the highest number of 911 calls; there is a large number of suicides, economic disaster among families, and all-around dysfunction. Surrounding the church where I worship is a community where sin has a strong grip. Our church is becoming known in the church district for having a strong passion to reach this community with the saving news of Jesus Christ. There are members of the Englewood/Littleton community who are coming to faith for the first time. There are others who are being saved out of a life of drugs and sexual addictions, they are getting baptized, and they are sharing their faith with their family and friends. It is like watching the story of the Samaritan woman at the well every Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church. We are baptizing women who share about their past of drugs, alcohol, sleeping around with other men; and who are now, because of Christ, have been able to turn their life around. They are getting their kids back from foster homes because the state took their children away due to their out-of-control lifestyle. Young men are being saved and baptized; they share their story of how God is ministering to them. For the first time in their life they feel accepted and loved. Fathers are finally walking in their role to lead their families by submitting to Christ; their transformation is radically changing their family dynamic in such a deep and wonderful way. There is much healing and miraculous work taking place as the gospel penetrates a broken community.
For a very long part of my life I have not taken my calling in ministry seriously. In fact, I have not taken the mission of God seriously. I have known since 1988 that God was calling me to shepherd His body; and yet, even though I knew this, I did not take it seriously. I ran from this calling for many years. This is unfortunate because there is no greater calling, no greater privilege, than to serve Jesus Christ. It was not until three years ago that I began to realize serving God is a serious thing. I began to evaluate the areas of my life that were hindering me from doing this work.
For me, the temple that hindered me from worshipping God in spirit and truth was the arrogant lie I believed that suggested I knew more than anyone else about Scripture; I felt if others did not agree with me they were wrong. I did not worship God in any other way than that which made me look good in front of others. I studied at an institution that was rather anti-charismatic so I bought into a lie that insisted all charismatic worship is an embarrassment to God and Christianity as a whole. I looked down on anyone who believed differently; and I was especially disinterested in listening to anyone who believed in any type of theology that seemed to be less than Calvinistic.
It cannot be emphasized enough how valuable the decision to be a part of the Denver Seminary has been on breaking down these walls and introducing me to a new framework from which to view those who may fall outside of my theological grid. In fact, my theological grid has been changing and morphing as I interact with others who may not hold the same value on certain doctrinal points as I do. This has increased my love for others outside of my sphere, as well as a desire to continue to grow in my capacity to love those who are from differing theological, even cultural backgrounds. I am moved by God’s heart to pursue all people at all times in all places. We serve a good and mighty God!
Bibliography
Brown, Jeanine K. “Silent Wives, Verbal Believers: Ethical and Hermeneutical
Considerations in 1 Peter 3:1-6 and Its Context.” Word & World 24. 2004.
Burge, Gary M. “John.” The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 2000.
Laney, Carl J. “John.” Chicago: Moody Publishers. 1992.
Jobes, Karen H. “1 Peter.” in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic. 2005.
Keener, Craig S. “1 Peter” in The IVP Bible Background Commentary. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press. 1993.
Morris, Leon. “The Gospel According to John.” Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company. 1995.
Rogers,Cleon Jr. and Cleon Rogers. “The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek
New Testament.” Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1998.
Slaughter, James R. “Winning Unbelieving Husbands to Christ.” in Bibliotheca Sacra 153.
2006.
Tennet, Timothy C. “Invitation to World Missions.” Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
2010.
[1] Leon Morris, “The Gospel According to John,” (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.) 226.
[2] Ibid, 227.
[3] Ibid, 226-227.
[4] Ibid, 227.
[5] Ibid, 227.
[6] Craig S. Keener, “1 Peter” in The IVP Bible Background Commentary, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 485.
[7] Jeanine K. Brown, “Silent Wives, Verbal Believers: Ethical and Hermeneutical Considerations in 1 Peter 3:1-6 and Its Context,” Word & World 24 (2004): 399.
[8] Keener, “IVP Bible Background,) 716.
[9] Gary M. Burge, “John,” The NIV Application Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.) 332.
[10] 1 Timothy 2:11
[11] James R. Slaughter, “Winning Unbelieving Husbands to Christ,” in Bibliotheca Sacra 153 (2006), 202.
[12] Karen H. Jobes, “1 Peter” in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 203.
[13] Timoth C. Tennet, “Invitation to World Missions,” (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2010.) 154.
[14] John 17
[15] Burge, “John,” 147.
[16] Cleon Rogers and Cleon Rogers, “The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament,” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.) 189.
[17] J. Carl Laney, “John,” (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1992.) 96.
[18] 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-10; and other scriptures that speak to salvation by grace through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.
[19] Laney, “John,” 94-95.
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