New Wine Vs. Old Wine Skins

A recurring theme throughout our meetings with the Missions Advisory Committee this week relates to the verse (Luke 5:37) in which Jesus says "...no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined." (NIV). That verse confused me for many years as to what it is referring to but I think I'm beginning to understand it now. I think that in many ways, it is referring to the gospel (good news) that Jesus was bringing, it just didn't fit into the box that the religious people of his time had built as to who God is and how He relates to us.

In the same way, no one can box in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will move where it wishes and the way in which the Spirit works tomorrow may be very different than how the Spirit worked yesterday.

One report this week is that the Christian church in one Asian country had gone from approximately 1% of the population 20 years ago to approximately 0.5%. Our established churches in that country are characterized as good people but very much caught up in tradition and protocol. They are having a hard time relating to or accepting many of the new ways of reaching people for Christ that are beginning to be successful.

I think there is a lesson here for the Church of North America - and me specifically. May I never try to set walls in which the Holy Spirit can only work. How ridiculous; God must see that and laugh.

I don't want to be negative about the meetings. There were so many wonderful examples of the Holy Spirit at work throughout the world. People being served, healed, and saved in amazing ways!