BECOMING A NEW WINESKIN

But First You Must Dump the Old Wineskin

It is almost comical among Christians, and we are all guilty, that when we hear or see a problem or fault, it is "the other  guy", or "that church" with the problem.  We read or hear something profound and we think "boy, THEY NEED TO GET THIS!"

As a former partisan supporter of church, especially OURS, we were guilty of painting other churches or those that left our assembly with the "backhand' of fellowship. Catch-words like "trouble makers", "divisive", "Lone Ranger Christians", "carnal", "truth-rejectors", "un-loyal,  "troubled", were some of the descriptions and labels we thoughtlessly used. 

 Ask the typical pastor what he thinks about "the other church" down the street in regard to their belief or methods, and then ask him what "he REALLY thinks".  Ask him about the folks that left "his" church and note his response.

Yes, we are all pretty good at boxing in those we disagree with.. 

After leaving our local church which we had helped establish and build, after 24 years, we found ourselves for the first time, labeled, and lumped in with the  hundreds who had drifted through our assembly over the years.  What an eye-opener!  

We did not leave disgruntled or with a desire to return to worldly living.  We wanted to leave in peace, quietly, and we rejected the "bon voyage" service to "honor" us for our many years of service.
I had even thought to return and visit regularly, and 3 months later seriously thought of returning thinking we had erred in leaving, and I was willing to go back humbly.  But the very night those thoughts went through my mind, God spoke to me in TWO dreams which revealed the darkness of the apostasy we had come out from.

From the time we had left, my wife and I had returned to the diligent reading and study of God's Word, and prayer.  The Lord was doing a work in us that continues to this day. 
We discovered much to our dismay, it was much easier to walk away from the institution of church than it was to get the institution of church out of us!  As we continued in God's Word, however, we continued to recognize more and more of what we left behind and the need to become "a new wineskin". 

The old wineskin had to go, but WHAT was it?

Becoming a new wineskin is not bringing in a new church or pastor, it is not changing churches, it is not about what building you fellowship in, it is not doing house church, it is not about anything outward.  It is not putting a new label on yourself.

We found becoming a new wineskin does not happen over-night.  Wineskins are made from the flesh of animals. This represents our "beastly" nature, you know, the one that likes to be admired, heard, respected, adored, loved, followed, believed, is comfort-driven, self-centered, materialistic, angry, vengeful, selfish, lazy, and our entertainment-pleasure-loving-side.

-All the while, the same old "beast" dresses up in a nice suit and tie, smiles, sings Christian music, and talks about God. 

It takes real convictions to God to face ourselves honestly, and most of us cannot stand what we see, when we see ourselves.  Probably because there is far too much of us and far too less of Jesus looking back at our reflection in the mirror of His Word. -and probably because we have not followed Jesus to our cross. 
Mat 10:38    And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. 
Mat 16:24    Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

I recall the impact of one verse in particular that blew apart my concepts of what I thought I should have and achieve as a Christian and church member:
Luke 14:33
So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

We are not talking lip service here.
Renounce: 
literally to say adieu (by departing or dismissing);
figuratively to renounce:
bid farewell, forsake, take leave, send away.

This not only means renouncing our ownership of all our "stuff', we have been "blessed" with,  
(btw, if it was purchased on credit contrary to scripture, ownership is an illusion anyway),  
it even means renouncing ALL OF OUR Christian doctrine and beliefs.

Is that too radical?  It was too radical for many followers of Jesus in John 6:66 also.

Now I am not saying all our ideas and teachings are completely wrong,
what I AM saying is we must be willing to renounce them all ALSO.
If there is something worth keeping, God will keep that and even BLESS it more if it is His truth, and not a so-called truth from manmade "Statements of Faith".  Every time I have renounced ownership of a teaching such as my old rapture doctrine, trinity, oneness, speaking in tongues not for us, tithing, the Sunday offering tradition, pastor-idolatry, or church government concept, God has been able to teach me the truth right out of His Word.

Every time God revealed truth, it was different from what I had learned "in church".  And God gave the understanding to go with it.

The new wineskin.. Do you want to REALLY be one? -and be filled with new wine of His sweet Word hidden away inside your vessel? You cannot get that blessing of a new Wineskin without throwing away, or walking away in most cases, from the entire OLD one! 
What? Do you want to patch-in some old ideas, traditions, formulas, "creeds", "faith statements", words, and habbits, that are not found in the Bible, and think you can still be new? 
The New Wine will pour out through those old patches!  Forget it!

Hear the word of the Lord;
Luke 5:

36 And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old.

37 And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish.

38 But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins.

39 And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good.

Did you know the Lord has saved THE BEST WINE for "The Last"...?  -The best revelation of His Word, the best restoration of His power and authority, and the best revelation of Himself to us?

We go on to renounce sin in our lives as God reveals it,
I am talking about hidden sin that must be overcome. Holding grudges, hurts, anger, fear, doubt, covetousness, desire to control, always be right, unbelief, self-hatred, unforgiveness,  anything that is contrary to the nature of Christ must be renounced and God's deliverance received.  

The truth is today, in most churches, you can cover just about all that corruption by just attending "church" faithfully, financially supporting, being involved, and being a nice person outwardly.  We know because this is what we lived, but after leaving we found that "all we as sheep have gone astray" and "our righteousness was as filthy rags". 

-all while sitting in a church pew and somehow convincing ourselves "I'm a new wineskin"..

God is now preparing us for the "latter rain" of His Spirit as we prepare for greater tribulations. Will you trust God enough to renounce "all that he hath" both materially and intellectually?  It took me 2-3 weeks to pray a prayer of renouncing after seeing the truth of what Jesus said in Luke 14:33.  I also asked him to "judge me" for the many sins I have committed as a Christian. 

We can honestly say we would not trade the 4+ years of our present walk with Christ outside the camp of old wineskin "Christianity" for the 24 years of servitude to the system of Christianity. Time and space will not allow to express the joy and thanks we have for God's grace in bringing us out of the old wineskin of institutional Christianity.

It is worth it.

Next time...     "How To Recognize Institutional Christianity"