Old Wine

Which do you prefer, the old ways or the new?

And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good." - Luke 5:39

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the new wine, saying it must go in a new wineskin or it will burst the old skin. 

He is referencing the new teaching that doesn't fit well with the old laws, which were designed for the old way of thinking.

He ends with the observation that those who prefer the old ways will not even try the new, believing what they know is good.

On Monday, we were talking about tradition and novelty with respect to the church and the Liturgy.  Some of our churches have been experimenting with new services aimed at a younger audience.

The belief is that the new service will attract those who don't come to church, but what they are finding is that the audience at the new service is mostly the same members who go to the old.

Of course there are many who say the old is good and won't even try the new, but if the desire is to reach new people, the new is falling short.

Why would that be?

The addition of this line in Luke pays homage to those who desire the old ways, recognizing that they may have no reason to desire anything new.  If one is content with the way things are, rules and all, then so be it.

Those who prefer the new ways may never come to understand such a conservative stance, and yet some may feel the new is not new enough, being no more than a patch on the old, like the sewn on patch of new cloth on the old garment that Jesus spoke about.

When it comes to my own preferences, I realize that in many ways I am content with the old wine, and yet there are times when I feel a desire to taste what the new is like.

So, maybe one doesn't have to abandon the old completely.

If we can figure out how to strike a perfect balance, we might find we are not alone in our thinking.

But then, how would we label each other?  And what would we fight about?

More to come...