Patterns for PeaceSample

Take A Seat

The accusations hurled at Jesus weren’t unique to Him.  We live in a day where lines are drawn and people are picking sides all the time. It seems like everyone has an opinion on right and wrong. It’s so easy to get swept up in the comments and the soundbites that we never engage in a conversation. To be a Christ-follower is to model our life after the life of Jesus. One example of how Jesus engaged with a conflict is recorded in John chapter 4. 

The scripture begins in John 4:4 by saying that "Jesus had to go through Samaria." He didn’t have to go because there wasn’t another route; He had to go that because He had a mission. He could have easily gone around Samaria, and every other Jew would have because Samaria was a place of great cultural conflict. Jews didn’t like Samaritans. In fact, they hated Samaritans and the Samaritans hated them. 

They didn’t believe the same. The Samaritans had once desecrated the Jewish people’s place of worship. The Samaritans considered themselves the true people of God.  On the other side, the Jews considered the Samaritans a sort of religious half-breed. There was constant argument, hostility and hatred on both sides. That’s Samaria; all this conflict and Jesus walks straight into it.

If you’re familiar with the story, once Jesus gets there He sits down by a well and sends His disciples to go get some food. Just as He sits down a Samaritan woman makes her way to the well. Verse 7 says,

"When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”"

Jesus doesn’t ask her this question because He’s thirsty. Instead, He is doing something intentional. He’s engaging her in conversation.

This isn’t just an ordinary question either. Jesus is a rabbi and He’s asking a question of a woman.  That might not seem like a big deal, but in this culture Rabbi’s were not supposed to speak to women. Not only that, but she was a woman of questionable conduct with a completely different belief system than Jesus.

A different theology, a different moral code. And a different ethnicity.

So why would Jesus sit down and start a conversation with her? Perhaps it's because something that is not natural for us, is something that Jesus came to do. To start conversations with people who are different.

We can’t make peace if we don’t first make conversation. But a lot of us don’t do that. Instead, we make comments.

The funny thing about this encounter is that when she realizes what’s going on, she immediately turns this into a theological debate (John 4:20). She wants to know where Jesus stands on a certain issue and Jesus does answer her, but they could have never gotten to this point if He wouldn’t have first sat down and had a conversation.

As Christians, we do need to take a stand. There are standards. We need to stand for truth. We need to stand for justice. We need to stand for righteousness, integrity, and morals. But Nelson Mandela once said, “Where you stand depends on where you sit.”

Our beliefs are shaped by our background.  Sometimes we try to take a stance before we’ve ever sat down and had a conversation. We speak before we sit.

It's always easier to focus on what we want to say rather than listening to the world view of someone who is different. But try this challenge: before you take a stand and pick a side, take a seat and pick up a conversation with someone who has a different view than you.

Questions for reflection.

Do you find it difficult to listen to someone who has a different viewpoint than you?

What can we learn from Jesus' conversation with this woman that would be helpful for us?