Mensa Otabil - Where Do We Worship
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You’re welcome to a brand new week, and we are continuing our teaching from John chapter 4, looking at Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman by the well.
John chapter 4, verses 19 and 20. And the woman said to him, «Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say, 'In Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.'» After Jesus had revealed the secrets of this woman’s life to her, she probably thought that Jesus was more than just a passing Jewish rabbi who moved from village to village. And so she said, «I perceive you are a prophet.» I perceive, Jesus, you are a prophet. Which is not bad. She acknowledged that Jesus was somebody special.
But look at what she does right after that. She changes the subject. She’s not talking about the husband issue. She’s not even talking about the living water they started discussing. She’s not talking about anything further regarding prophets. She changes the subject and starts to do what most people do when they are in such a situation, when they feel convicted by the Holy Spirit. They change the subject and start to throw out a religious argument. So she says, «Sir, I perceive you are a prophet. Now we Samaritans» -talking about herself- «worship on this mountain.» That mountain is Mount Gerizim, «and you Jews say that we should worship in Jerusalem.» So what she’s saying is, «Yes, you are a prophet. You know about me. You have living water. I’m not ready now.» To show that she’s not ready or she’s feeling too convicted, she changes the subject into a religious argument.
One of the things you will find as the Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, as people come face to face with the reality of who Jesus is, is that they will throw out some argument: «Which religion is the best? Are you telling me Christianity is the best religion? Is Jesus the only way? Are you telling me everybody else is going to hell?» They forget about their situation and start talking about everybody else. Now Jesus is dealing with a woman, but she’s talking about Jews and Samaritans. This is the classic way in which people try to turn the conviction of the Holy Spirit into a debate.
Now, if you’re a Christian and you are presenting the gospel to people, you have to be careful not to get caught up in a religious debate, because nobody attains salvation by winning a religious debate. From what I’ve come to realize, it’s almost impossible to win a religious debate. Christianity is about a relationship God wants to have with us. It’s not about whose religion is right and whose religion is wrong. And we’ll find the answer Jesus gave to this woman later on, and that tells you how God sees this whole issue regarding whether it is that religion or that religion.
Christianity is not about religious superiority. It’s about a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And God will reach out to everybody, no matter what their religion is. God reaches out to all because Jesus is the Savior of all. So the woman deflects the argument, and tomorrow we’ll see how Jesus approached the subject that has been hijacked by the woman at the well. I trust that as you go out evangelizing, God will help you with wisdom to know how to present the gospel without offense to many people.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, help me not to harden my heart when your Holy Spirit convicts me of my sins in Jesus' name.» Amen. And amen.