This title will mean so many things to so many of our friends and acquaintances.

Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” – John 10:10

Our boss, friend, and brother came all the way to the other side of the world to visit us this last week. Okay, I’ll confess he visited a lot of people. That conversation coupled with a few recent incidents has been in my mind a lot since. A topic that arose very forcefully was what a “life giving” philosophy was all about and some considerations about the opposite.

In the kingdom of God over history things have been steadily changing. Times spawn new times. Old things spawn new things different from themselves. The core of the covenants remain the same, but other things clearly do change.

Jesus represented a BIG change. He came and died for all men. He called his era a new wineskin and in Mark 2:22 warned about the dangers of trying to keep using the old wineskins:

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins”- Mark 2:22

I’m going to take quite a leap of opinion here, but the wineskin analogy really could go further than we realize.

Wine is fermented grape juice, and in the time of Christ it was produced, in mass, annually. Every year brought new wine and new wineskins. Of course the coming of the Messiah is the greatest of all new wineskins. I just think maybe it wasn’t the only one. In fact this very point has caused division and strife countless times in the history of Christianity.

So the title, “new life”. What’s that all about?

Many readers will tie it to one thing, others will maybe tie it to something else… at minimum a Christian would connect it to John 10:10 and verses like it referring to the “new life” Jesus brings. Whatever the connection, “new life” is clearly the opposite of “old life”. Life giving is the opposite of life draining. Keep in mind the wineskins. Things have changed in the kingdom time and again. Usually not smoothly. Whether you were Martin Luther, or Martin Luther King, you would face people who want things to stay just as they were. Yep good Christians wanted to keep things just as they were when Rosa Parks got on that bus. Don’t fool yourself into thinking it was just a few either. The whims of a few aren’t that powerful.

In 1611 another big wineskin came. The King James bible was completed. After burning Tyndale the monarchy decided to publish a good portion of his work in the 1611 King James Bible. Why do I call that a big wineskin and not even mention the 1380 Wycliffe, 1534 Tyndale, 1539 Great Bible, 1557 Geneva, or the 1582 Rheims bibles? Well cause they were “little”. To this day there is a portion of Christendom that hold the 1611 KJV to be the only true English translation and continue to ferment their wine in that wineskin. Does it ever burst? You betcha!

I mention the ancient KJV because it is a real life caricature of a reality that has caused the body of Christ to suffer both actually and figuratively. With every generation comes a new wineskin. If you keep putting your wine in old wineskins then you’re living an “old life” and not a “new life”. That being said…

The “life giving” philosophy is a new wineskin. I think it is a “big” one. One that will serve us well. From here I can’t see where it will need to give way to yet another, and maybe one day I’ll be an old geezer scolding some “youngun” for not taking my wineskin seriously. I sure hope not.

So I’m sure if you’ve read this far you want to know what “life giving” means to Christianity. Well I’m happy to tell you what I think it should mean. It should mean the end of trying to control God’s servants and the beginning of trying to serve them. It should bring a new awareness of “the first being last and the last being first”. It should empower normal, flaw filled sinners to reach the world in ways not seen since Jesus sent out his followers 2 by 2. It means that no flesh and blood will put their foot in the door of evangelism, missions, or ministry without being put to shame for such an arrogant self appointment. It should mean that when Jesus says to a person “Come, follow me” the “life giving” church says “we stand with you, for better or worse.” It may even mean that Jesus is coming back soon…

Whatever it really means I believe it is evident in Jesus’ example 2000 years ago. His disciples were clearly plain old humans but in a very short time Jesus was sending them all over, unattended, to tell the world about Him (Mark 6:7). How funny that so many “new” things that come down the church’s path are actually old things that are finally accepted as true. This is likely one of those things.

Life giving New Lifers are here to stay. Still human. Still messing up a good portion of the time. I just hope this thing spreads. I hope it penetrates the dying Churches and organizations of America and the world. When it does it may well help the few laborers rescue some souls from hell.