The Woman at the Well and Same-Sex Marriage: How to Reach a Thirsty Culture

Yesterday, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States. While in some ways this ruling is a watershed moment that will have far-reaching implications for believers in the future, in other ways it is merely another step down a road that our culture has been walking for some time. If you're still laboring under the delusion that you live in a Christian nation, this is probably a helpful wake-up call: you are (and always were) a stranger and exile in this land.

There are many issues facing believers now: questions of religious liberty, biblical faithfulness, etc. But what should be one of our biggest concerns now is how to reach people in this culture that is opposed to us. The Supreme Court's verdict is yet another reminder that evangelism in America is now a cross-cultural endeavor; we are divided from the rest of society by a widening gulf of biblical illiteracy and secular worldview. Any strategy for reaching the lost in our communities has to take this reality into account.

For help in that regard, I want to turn to a familiar story: Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). This is one of the best "cross-cultural" missionary stories in the Bible, and we can glean a lot of wisdom here to apply to our own situation. In fact, our cultural situation is actually remarkably similar to the story: Jesus is crossing cultural boundaries to reach a woman broken by the false promises of sexual freedom. That is exactly the issue that the church in America faces today. So gleaning lessons for interacting with victims of the sexual revolution is not a stretch for this text at all; that's practically what the story is about. I see four lessons to learn from this story that will help us be salt, light, and living water in our decaying, dark, and thirsty society.

1) Sexual "liberation" doesn't keep its promises, but Jesus does

The heart of this story centers around Jesus' conversation with a broken, desperate woman. As he reveals halfway through their conversation, she has had five husbands and is currently living with her boyfriend. No man has been able to give her fulfillment, or perhaps she hasn't been able to give fulfillment to any man. She's been chasing hapiness and fulfillment through sexual freedom, but all she's ended up with is emptiness, shame, and bondage. And in the words of Bono, she "still hasn't found what she's looking for." She's coming to the well where Jesus is sitting in the middle of the day in order to avoid the other women who draw their water in the morning; obviously, she still feels the oppressive shame of her sexual past. She's carrying more than a water jug; she's laboring under the baggage of failed sexual relationship after failed sexual relationship. In other words, she's just like most of the women you meet on your campus or in your workplace.

To this broken, sinful woman, Jesus extends a remarkable offer: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (4:13-14) When Jesus says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again," he's no longer talking about the bucket in her hand. He's talking about her endless quest for satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment. That's obvious from where he goes next in his conversation-- right to the heart of the issue: "Go call your husband." Jesus wants to gently expose this woman's sexual "liberation" for what it is: an empty lie that will never satisfy her thirst. And in its place, he offers himself as living water that will finally, fully, deeply satisfy the desires of this woman's heart. "I'm what you've been looking for," he's saying.

Learn from Jesus this hard, sweet truth: sexual "liberation" doesn't keep its promises, but He does. The people celebrating the Supreme Court's decision today think that the doors to happiness and personal fulfillment have been opened wider. They are destined to be disappointed, because solid joys and lasting satisfaction can't be found in rebellion against God; they're simply not there. The people waving rainbow flags on the news are chasing a mirage that will only leave them emptier and thirstier.

Let that truth put some toughness and tenderness into the backbone of your faith. Toughness, because regardless of what the world says, there simply is no real life to be found apart from fellowship with, trust in, and obedience to the living God. So we can be confident that we are, in fact, on the right side of history, because we stand with Jesus, who is sovereign over all of history. But this truth also calls for tenderness, because the sexual revolution is failing its victims. As Russell Moore said in his commentary on yesterday's events, "The church must prepare for the refugees from the sexual revolution." Let's be a community refreshed with the living water that Jesus has given us and eager to hand it out ourselves to the thirsty all around us.

2) Build cross-cultural bridges by humility

A second lesson to learn from this story comes from seeing how Jesus initially engages this woman. There are a lot of good, gospel-centered ways to build bridges to your unbelieving co-workers, friends, and family. Having a loving, servant heart is certainly chief among them. But Jesus employs a different strategy here. Instead of offering to serve the woman, he humbles himself and asks for her to serve him: "Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.'" (4:7) Putting yourself in someone else's debt is a disarming, winsome way to connect across cultural boundaries and demonstrate humility and lack of self-righteousness. Sometimes the best way to be winsome to the homosexual couple who has just moved in next door is to come over and offer to help put together their furniture. But sometimes, the best way to humbly connect with them might be to call them up and ask them to help you put together your furniture. Especially when dealing with broken people-- as Jesus is doing here-- honoring others above yourself with humility, meekness, and thankfulness is a powerful gospel witness.

3) Let them change the subject

This has probably happened to you at some point when you've been sharing the gospel with someone: you're talking about sin and their need for a Savior, and when you start hitting too close to home, they get uncomfortable and try to deflect the conversation by changing the subject to a hot-button topic. The issue of homosexuality seems to come up a lot in these situations. You're talking about how Jesus died for all their sins, and they say, "Well yeah, but what about the Bible condemning gay people?"

When this happens to me, part of me wants to roll my eyes in frustration and say, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything? You're just deflecting!" But Jesus deals with this same situation in his conversation with this woman, and he is surprisingly willing to go along with her deflection. He starts pressing in to her sinful past, and she quickly changes the subject: "The woman said to him, 'Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.'" (4:19-20) She doesn't want to talk about her sin, so she brings up a hot-button theological controversy to hide behind. Jesus doesn't scold her for changing the subject. Instead, he goes along with her question, but uses it to quickly redirect her back to her heart. "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." (4:23) He takes her query about correct modes of worship, and within two sentences he's back to probing her heart.

Learn a valuable lesson from Jesus here: let them change the subject, but use it to redirect the conversation back to what is ultimately important: the gospel and their own heart. If the person you're witnessing to changes the subject to homosexuality or gay marriage, don't see it as a deflection; see it as a gospel opportunity. You could say something like, "Yes, the Bible talks about homosexual sin. But you know what? A much bigger deal to me is that I'm a heterosexual sinner-- I'm wired from birth to sin heterosexually-- but Jesus came to save people like me, and he's changed my life." And boom, you're back at the gospel.

4) Broken people make the best missionaries

The final thing to see from this story is that God has not placed us into this cultural context for no reason. Rather, the very fact that our society is so sexually and morally bankrupt and filled with so many broken people, is actually an astonishing mission opportunity. Because what we see in this story is that when those broken people taste Jesus' living water, they are transformed into the best missionaries capable of reaching their own culture.

After being confronted with her past and Jesus' offer of pardon, the Samaritan woman runs back into town and begins telling everyone-- even the women she was previously avoiding-- "Come, see a man who told me all that I've done. Could this be the Christ?" (4:29) Her testimony was so persuasive, and Jesus' effect on her so transformative, that the entire town had to come and see for themselves. And what they found set them free as well. Verse 39 says, "Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony."

There is something about being set free from the bondage of sexual shame and emptiness that particularly equips a person to be an effective witness to the life-giving, shame-defeating power of the Savior. Ask someone who has drunk their fill from the world's shallow wells and then tasted Jesus' living water; ask me about my liberation from pornography in college; ask someone who has found in Jesus full healing from sexual brokenness; and you will find someone who has been set on fire by grace and eager to tell the world.

So could it be that the recent institutionalization and celebration of sin in our culture is not a defeat for the church, but God's providential preparation of a mission field for his people? The lines have been clearly drawn, and more and more people will be discovering that there is no life outside of Jesus. Will they see in us the kind of winsome, humble, gracious, life-giving welcome that first rescued us? May the church of Jesus Christ rise to the opportunity that God has given us, extending living water to a thirsty world.

Thoughts on Owning a Nissan Leaf

This isn't one of my typical theology/Bible/Jesus posts, but I thought it might be helpful. Last year I posted, in an article titled "Christianity, Conservativism, and Climate Change: Confessions of an Evangelical Environmentalist," some of my first attempts at articulating a gospel-centered theology of environmentalism, and some of the practical steps those ideas have caused me to take. To read that article, go here: http://theophilus318.blogspot.com/2013/01/christianity-conservatism-and-climate.html.

One of those practical steps is that I drive a 2012 Nissan Leaf- a fully electric car that not only saves me money on gas, but is a ton of fun to drive and as well as easy on the environment. Recently, I've had several people who are considering purchasing a Leaf ask me for advice/opinions/etc. The following was how I replied to one friend who is considering purchasing a Leaf and wanted my honest thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of driving electric. I wrote this email to her, but since then several other people have asked me similar questions, so I thought I would take these thoughts and make them public. This is my best attempt, as an unapologetic EV-cheerleader, to be balanced and fair in my assessment and recommendation of the Leaf. I hope it helps you.

BENEFITS

I think the biggest benefit of the Nissan Leaf is the low monthly cost to operate. When considered side by side against any new gas car, you simply cannot own a new car for cheaper. The cheapest deal on any other new car you could find might be a $100-$150 monthly payment... but then you'll be spending another $100-$150+ on gas, plus maintenance, oil changes, etc. The Nissan Leaf is available for as low as $199/month lease... and that's basically the only cost. My Leaf adds about $20-30 onto my electric bill every month. And that's it. There's no gas, no oil changes, no transmission, no maintenance costs at all except tires. Even the brakes last way longer than a "normal" car, because it uses regenerative braking, which makes the brake pads last a lot longer. In the 2 years I've had my car, the only maintenance cost I've had was to replace the tires because I ran over a bolt. I figure I've saved $500 in maintenance costs alone over the last two years-- not to mention that I used to spend $300+ on gas each month, and now spend $30 on electricity.

Here's a little math to help you see how much cheaper an electric car is per mile. Let's say, just to have some nice easy round numbers, that a normal car would get 30 mpg and gas costs $3.00/gallon (I know it's a little cheaper than that now, but it's usually more expensive). 30 mpg and $3.00 per gallon means that fuel for a gas car costs $0.10 per mile-- not including all the oil changes and other maintenance. 

Compare that to the Leaf: it goes about 4 miles per kWh, and a kWh costs about $0.12 from BGE. That means the cost per mile of a Leaf is $0.03-- less than a third of a gas car-- and there's no other maintenance to factor in. If you use free public charging or can get your electricity cheaper (mine only costs $0.06 per kWh!), it's even cheaper.  When I add in maintenance costs and those other potential savings, I've found that the operating cost of my Leaf is about 1/10 the cost of a gas car- $0.01 per mile.

With my car, I've found that the gas savings literally pays for itself. My car payment is $249/month-- which is considerably less than I used to pay in gas every month. For me, trading in my old car for a brand new electric one meant instant monthly savings. Your savings could be more or less-- depending on how much you drive (see below for some practical considerations in that department).

The last two benefits to driving an electric car are not as important, but they're still big. First, electric cars are just way more fun to drive. They're silent, smooth, quick accelaration, instant response, 100% torque, low center of gravity, etc. Every time I get in my wife's Camry I remember how much I hate internal combustion engines. I didn't realize how frustrating the response and lag time and shifting gears and constant rumble of gas engines was until I got away from it. Now, I would never ever go back.

The third benefit may or may not be important to you: electric cars are way more environmentally friendly. No tailpipe = no harmful emissions, no CO2, etc. You can turn it on in your agarage and not worry about dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. Driving an electric car, you're helping the environment and reducing our dependency on foreign oil. The Nissan Leaf is made entirely in Nashville, Tennnessee-- you're driving an American-made car running on entirely American-made fuel that, even when you take power plant emissions into account, is 50-60% cleaner than gas cars.

DRAWBACKS

In my opinion, the advantages of electric driving far outweigh the negatives--  but there are negatives, and you'll have to weigh how important they are to you. The main drawback to electric driving is range; a gas car can go 300 miles without refuelling; the Leaf can only go about 80. While there are a lot of public charging stations around, and even some quick charging stations that can completely refill the battery in 20 minutes, the reality of electric driving is that the Nissan Leaf is not a road trip car. If you want to go to the beach, you'll need annother car (however, Nissan includes up to 10 days of free loaner cars with every Leaf-- I used that last year when we went on vacation). You can do shorter regional road trips, but it requires planning ahead, looking up charging stations, and longer wait times. With some planning, I've taken the Leaf to Hersheypark, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, but trips beyond that aren't really practical.

An 80-mile range means that the car will be perfect for day-to-day driving, commuting, running errands, etc, but it's helpful to have access to another car if something comes up that requires a lot of driving. For example, one day I knew I was going to have to drive all over kingdom come running errands, and I didn't want to have to schedule in charging times, so I took Sarah's car that day instead. If the Leaf is your only car, 95% of the time it will be everything you need... but the other 5% of the time might be a pain if you have no other options.

The only other drawback I can think of is also related to range: temperature affects the range more than I'd like. As you've probably discovered if you've ever left your phone out in the car all night, cold temperatures lower the capacity of lithium-ion batteries. In the summer, I get about 90 miles of range out of the Leaf. In the winter, when it's really cold, I only get about 60. In addition, the heater in an electric car draws a lot of power. In a gas car, the heat comes from all the excess wasted heat generated by how inefficient the engine is. But an electric car has to have a separate electric heater, and in the depths of winter I've found that can take another 5-10 miles off the range. Cold weather, plus power for the heater, means that I more often have range issues in the winter, and trips can sometimes take a little more planning. This may or may not be an issue for you; it depends on how much you'll be driving each day. For someone like me, who drives at least 60 miles a day, that reduced range in winter can be a pain. But if you'll only be driving 20 miles a day, it will never be an issue.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The main thing you need to think through when considering an electric car is, How far do you drive in a typical day? If you're driving 40 miles or less each day, you'll never have to think about range; you'll just plug it in when you get home and never worry about it, and you'll wonder where electric cars have been all your life and how you ever got along without them. If you drive 40-80 miles a day, the Leaf will work for you, but it will be a bigger commitment and will force you to think about driving in a different way, and sometimes you'll have to plan ahead. I fall into that category, and after two years of driving, I know where every public charger in central Maryland is, I intuitively plan my days based on how far I have to drive, and I usually take back roads instead of freeways because range is a lot better at slower speeds. I've gotten used to it and usually don't find it to be much of a hassle, and still think that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, but that sort of range-aware lifestyle isn't for everyone. And if you're going to be consistently or regularly driving more than 80 miles a day, the Leaf probably isn't for you. If you're commuting to DC, for example, you could make it work if you tried-- there are enough quick chargers that it wouldn't add that much time to your commute-- but the hassle would be frustrating.

The question of how far you'll drive each day will also influence how much money you'll save with an electric car. Since I was spending $300 a month on gas, switching to the Leaf was a budgetary no-brainer. But if you only spend $50 a month on gas, an inexpensive, efficient gas car might possibly be cheaper. Personally, I would still choose electric, but if your main concerns are monetary, it's worth it to sit down and do the math: $0.10-$0.15 per mile for a gas car, $0.01-$0.03 per mile for the Leaf, and figure out how much you'll save and if it's worth it for you. 

The other thing you'll have to think about with electric cars is the question of new vs. used cars and buying vs. leasing. You mentioned you were thinking about a 2012 Leaf-- I'm assuming that's a used car. I'm curious to know how much that costs-- I'm not very familiar with the market for used electric cars. 

I would recommend leasing a new Leaf because of the tax credits associated with electric cars. The Leaf starts at $29,000 MSRP, and there's a $7,500 federal tax credit and $3,000 maryland tax credit if you buy it. The problem with those tax credits is that they're not the same as "$10,000 off sticker price!" You have to buy the car for $29,000, and then when you file your taxes, you claim the tax credit. But you and I don't actually make enough money to actually get all $10,000 back as a tax credit; I would probably only get about half of that back. That's why, unless you make enough money to qualify for the full tax credit, those tax credits aren't as good a deal as they sound.

But leasing is a different story. When you lease a car, technically the car company owns the vehicle, so they get the whole tax credit. What that means, in essence, is that the $10,000 tax credit subsidizes your lease payments and makes them a lot lower than they would be for a normal $29,000 car. For example, if I leased a $29,000 Toyota, it would probably cost $400 a month. But because those tax credits are rolled into the cost of my lease, the lease on my $29,000 Leaf only costs me $249 a month-- and depending on your credit score, the price can be as low as $199/month. The extra-low monthly lease is what makes electric cars so affordable. Leasing is a little more complicated than buying outright, with some fine print you need to be aware of, so if you go that direction, make sure you talk to someone you trust who understands leasing and can help you understand everything.

IN SUMMARY

To summarize, I love my Nissan Leaf, and it is the single best purchase I've ever made. It saves me money, is a ton of fun to drive, and good for the environment and the country to boot. The limited range usually isn't too restrictive for me, but has forced me to change how I think about driving. The subsidized lease price makes it surprisingly affordable and even money-saving for most people.

One final thought, to address a criticism of electric cars that I've heard a lot. Many people complain about the range and say, "Electric cars don't make sense unless they can go 300 miles and refuel in 5 minutes like gas cars. Plugging it in all the time would be a pain!" I think that's false. The only time I ever drive anywhere close to 300 miles is once a year when I go on vacation. Every other day of the year, I don't need a car that can go 300 miles; 80 miles is perfectly sufficient. And plugging it in isn't a pain at all; honestly, I think it's way more convenient than having to go to a gas station once or twice a week. When I get home, I pull into my driveway and plug it in, and in the morning I have a full battery. I never have to stop at the gas station; every morning my "tank" is full without me ever having to think about it. How could it possibly be any more convenient?! The difference between a gas car and an electric car is like the difference between my smartphone and a phone that runs on AA batteries. Yes, I have to charge my smartphone every night, and a phone that runs on AA batteries probably last longer than my iPhone's battery. But I don't want to have to go out to the store and buy more batteries every time my phone dies; I want to be able to just plug it in at night and not think about it. That's exactly what the difference between electric cars and gas cars is like. Yes, your gas car might go farther than my Leaf, but at least I don't have to go to the store every time my tank is empty. Every morning I have a full tank without any extra effort or time on my part. If we're comparing on the basis of convenience, I win.

John Newton: Plead Our Cause

"He will plead our cause, and fight our battles; He will pardon our mistakes, and teach us to do better."

John Newton: Little in our own eyes

"Oh! to be little in our own eyes! This is the ground-work of every grace; this leads to a continual dependence upon the Lord Jesus."