Luke 5:37-39 (ESV)
[37] And no one puts new wine
into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will
be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. [38] But new wine must be put into
fresh wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he
says, “The old is good.”
Jesus just gave three examples of
why two different things don’t mix. Fasting and feasting don’t mix, Old and new
material on a garment do not mix. New wine and old wineskins don’t mix. Then he
said, “No one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is
good.’” Jesus didn’t say, “The old is good.” Those drinking the old wine say, “The
old is good [or better].”
Jesus is talking about the Pharisees.
They had made up their minds. They were unteachable. The old was better. No
matter what Jesus said or did, it was new and therefore wrong. How often have
we been like that. I’m not talking about changing core doctrine. I’m talking
about realizing that while the message never changes, the method is in constant
flux because those we are trying to reach are constantly changing.
What we believe about God and
about salvation is foundational. On the other hand, what songs we sing has
always changed in the church. Nobody sings two-thousand-year-old songs in
church today, yet we argue that hundred-year-old songs are somehow better. The
architecture of church buildings has changed over the years. Even whether a
church building has seats for the congregation or whether the church building
should be heated has changed over the years. How we communicate the gospel changes
depending on how much people understand who God is and what sin is. For example
the question, “If you were to die tonight and stand before God and he were to
say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my Heaven?’” means nothing to people who
have never heard of God or heaven. They might respond, “Who is God and why
should I care what he thinks?” The message never changes but the method is in
constant flux.
Yet how often have we been like
the Pharisees? We’ve never done it that way, therefore that way is wrong. New
music is unbiblical. The way we presented the gospel fifty years ago in America
is the only right way to present it. Using wide, padded chairs is yielding to the
flesh. Pews are the only proper seating in a church. A pastor with his shirttail
hanging out is irreverent. He should at least tuck his shirt in and put on a
tie. It’s one thing to prefer a way of doing things. It is another to view others
as wrong. “The old is better.” We have made up our minds and have become
unteachable like the Pharisees.
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