Heart Tracks - Backyard Wineskins

     There's a lot of discussion in the church these days concerning being "new" vs. "old" wineskins.  This has given rise to many identifying themselves as either "progressive," or "traditional."  Of course this makes for conflict.  The former are often identified as "liberal," and the latter as "legal."  The first group wants to lay hold of the "new wineskins," and the second wishes to hold onto the old.  Each is saying, "My wineskin is better than yours."  Amidst all the talk, debate, and sadly, strife, I wonder if we, as we're so prone to do, are missing the Lord in all of it?

     I hope not to be identified as either a progressive or traditionalist, looking for neither a new wineskin, or seeking to hold onto the old.  I want to be identified, by my Lord, as one who depends not upon the wineskin, but upon the new wine that goes into it.  I think our problem, and I have been as guilty as anyone, is that we are constantly seeking new, updated "wineskins."  Many love new things, and such folks tend to grab hold of every new idea, method, or plan that gains popularity in the Body.  The result is a "backyard" filled with old "new wineskins."  What worked in one place, hasn't worked in our place.  We see the problem as being in the wineskin, and so we discard it and keep on looking for the wineskin that will work for us.  Why do we remain so blind to the fact that it's not the wineskin itself that gives life, but the new wine that is to go into it?  We try to make things happen by waving our wineskins (like a magic wand?) rather than allowing the new wine of His Holy Spirit inspiration and leading to fill and flow through us.  The wineskin we're seeking to use may have held someone else's new wine, but it is not holding ours.  All the conferences, seminars and workshops in the world will not change that.  New wine doesn't come from men, it comes from Him.  E.M Bounds said that "the church is always looking for better methods.  God is looking for better men."  Men, and women, made so by the filling up of the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
    This is not true only of pastor's and church leaders.  We flock to the marriage enrichment, financial stewardship, and relationship centered conferences, where the speakers may well be filled with new wine, and we walk away with notes, CD's, and books, but remain empty of that new wine.  New wineskins, ways of "doing" things in all of these areas may have been presented, but new wineskins devoid of new wine are just as useless as old wineskins missing the same. 
    I am not speaking against conferences or those who lead them, what I'm trying to say is that we will not receive that new wine we so desperately need anyplace but at the foot of the cross.  At that place, all of us, traditionals, progressives, old wineskins and new, receive the fullness of life that only He, through His Holy Spirit may give us.  There are enough discarded wineskins in all of our lives.  Let us, as Martin Smith of the group Delerious sings, "Rejoice at the foot of the cross.  We can be free, glory to God.  Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, you set me free, glory to God."  Let us rejoice, be grateful, and be filled with the new wine.....at the cross.

Blessings,

Pastor O