Against the Social Norms

One of my favorite plays is "The Fiddler on the Roof". It showcases many things about life that we often need to contemplate. It involves the struggles of a father in a Jewish culture who would like to choose the mate of his daughter. However, without him knowing, the daughter falls in love with a man who is not of his choosing. He is saddened that his job in finding a mate may not come to fruition and he makes appeals to his daughter on why she should not marry this man she loves. His reasoning? "Tradition". The Jewish father reasons with himself by saying why he must find a mate for his daughter because of "TRADITION!!!" Then he asks himself, "And why do we have TRADITION????.............." he concludes, "I don't know."

Many times traditions are there, but they may have outlasted their usefulness. They are either obsolete and possibly not God inspired. Many times we need to question the traditions of our modern culture and ask ourselves if we really need to abide by them. Jesus did just that!

John 4:39-42....focusing on 39a "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him...."

Jesus choose to go against traditions of the time and go through Samaria. Remember, Jews traveling to Galilee would take a longer route around Samaria to avoid this "unclean" society. Well, Jesus thought otherwise. He went straight through Samaria. Then he spoke to a woman at a well in mid-day light, another "no-no" in the Jewish culture. Then He has genuine concern for a woman's sole, a woman who is living in sin. He really crossed multiple barriers of culture in that day and the end result was many sought to hear the Word from Jesus and become his followers. There was a spiritual "pilot light" lit by Christ in the dark and unclean culture of Samaria.

Then the question goes to us in our modern culture, what social barriers do we need to cross so we can share our story or help someone realize they need to accept Christ? Does God give us opportunities and we say, "not right now" or " it would be awkward" or " I am busy" or "what would people think" or "that would not be politically correct".

Is there a group of people that you have identified that "we" need to stay away from? Is there someone who you know leads a very dark life and you avoid them? Sometimes these are the people who are most hungry for interacting with someone who brings hope. A Christian is sometimes prompted by God to talk to someone out of the normal course of life. This is a Christian who is being asked to mimic what Christ did in Samaria. The results can be profound.

"Dear Lord, where do you want me to go today and who do you want me to talk to? Please lead the way. Amen"