Are you familiar with the story of the woman at the well? We had a chance encounter and ended up talking about the Kingdom of God. In the course of the conversation I revealed that I knew her story, concerning her marital status and history. This was apparently a subject of shame for her and she changed the subject. There are hints in the story that she lived a life of shame because of this, coming to draw water when she did not expect anyone else to be around.
What do you consider to be the essence of faith? Theologians develop proportional truth claims concerning me and my birth and life and death and resurrection, and these are propagated as essential truth, with those affirming them being accepted as believers and those who do not as outside the faith. Is faith only about doctrine? I commended a Roman Centurion for having greater faith than anyone I had found in Israel. Consider the magnitude of this statement. Was his doctrine superior to all others? His only expression was that I could heal his servant at a distance.
Does your church teach you how to worship? In most churches this is a guided process, but without instruction as such. You know that you benefit by instruction in other things you do. Do you think instruction would be helpful here, or would you expect it to be totally intuitive? I have given you the standard to aim for in worship, that it should be in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks those who will do this. My disciples asked me to teach them to pray, since this was a common practice, and I did. If you ask me to teach you how to worship in spirit and in truth I will do so.
My word teaches you that in Christ there is neither male nor female, Greek nor Jew, bond nor free, and goes on to mention other categories. Do not think that this list was meant to be exhaustive. It is a starting point from which you can add any other distinction that divides people, including liberal and conservative, and if taken seriously spells the end of racism, tribalism, nationalism and others. The fact that this is such a radically profound statement is an indication of the human propensity for group identification and exclusion. Where are you on the spectrum?
My word teaches you to resist not evil, even to the point of turning the other cheek to one who would strike you, to make it easier for them to do it twice. I used a very physical illustration to get the point across. Have you ever had the chance to respond in this manner? Have you ever done it? Can you apply the same principle to verbal assault? You probably have many more opportunities to respond to mean things spoken to you than to physical assault. Even here you have the choice to respond in kind or to decline the chance to escalate the conflict.
How well do you sleep? Do you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you find the world to be so full of great injustices that it is detrimental to your wellbeing? Is this beneficial in solving the problems of the world? I came to give you peace. There are burdens that are assigned to you that you are able to carry, and those that are for me or others that you cannot. You can recognize the ones meant for you because they are suited for you and therefore light. One aspect of peace is knowing that you are not in charge, but that someone is.
Do you strive for victory? You live in a competitive culture. This is the nature of your economy where you must prevail over others to succeed. Even in areas that are not related to money you structure games to be competitive so there are winners and losers. Neither of these is in itself evil, but is there anywhere that the competitive approach is not beneficial? How well does it work in human relations? You can win an argument and get your way at the expense of alienating your brother. Can you see how win-win is a better goal than win-lose?
Have you ever had a supernatural encounter with me? Moses did, in the form of a burning bush. You may have seen a burning bush before, and this isn’t normally supernatural, for in due course it is consumed and dies down. But in this case the bush was not consumed. How long do you think that Moses looked at the bush before he realized that something was different in this case? For it would not be obvious at first glance. So we return to the question of whether you have ever had a supernatural encounter with me. Could you have had one and not been aware of it?
The Bible speaks of those who are in darkness. Do you know what this is? Do you assume that it applies to people who are not spiritual? To the most extreme sinners? Who do you know that isn’t spiritual? Didn’t I make everyone in my image? There are certain human longings, such as those for identity and meaning, that are present in every person whether they affirm any belief or profess any doctrine. You are inherently spiritual as a part of your intrinsic nature and there isn’t anything you can do to change that.
Do you think that I am silent, or that I speak only briefly on special occasions to selected individuals? What do you observe in your communications with other people? If you inquire of someone, even a stranger, and give them your full attention, how often are you met with silence? It is so rare as to be considered a social blunder, and even if they don’t know what you want they will speak. Am I not even more willing to communicate with you? You refer to me as the living word.
