Cracks in the Wall

This snatch of conversation was the first warning tremor of the earthquake that would bring down walls dividing people around the world. Today Christianity is the most diverse religion in the world — racially, culturally and geographically. I sometimes chuckle when I hear in the media that the latest trend is "globalism." Friends, globalism was invented 2000 years ago, when this man, Jesus, told His disciples, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel." With other major religions, you can point to a map of the world and say, "You will find most Hindus concentrated in this region" or "the majority of Muslims are in these countries . . ." Don't even try that with Christianity.

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Today 60 % of all Christians inhabit regions equaling two-thirds of the world's area: Asia, Africa and Latin America. We find more Christians attending worship in China than in all of Western Europe. Today in Scotland, less than ten percent of Christians attend church, while in the Philippines this morning, you will find seventy percent of that nation's Christians in the pews. In Nigeria alone, there are seven times as many Anglicans as there are Episcopalians in the United States. Korea now has four times as many Presbyterians as we have in this country. Oh yes, this is truly "World Communion Sunday."

Why? Because Jesus passed through Samaria.

Jesus was friendly as He passed through that hostile territory. He let down His own walls. He struck up a conversation with a stranger. Some of you have told me you grew up in small Southern towns. You remember riding down small-town roads with your parents as a child. Whenever another car drove by, your father would always wave. Can you imagine doing that here in Atlanta? You might be arrested for bizarre behavior. As your father walked on the street in that small Southern town, he considered it simple good manners to tip his hat to each woman he encountered (assuming she was a lady). Those gracious courtesies are a thing of the past. Today it seems we are always surrounded by people we wish weren't there, people who take our parking spot or who make the lines longer at the supermarket checkout stand. So today friendliness is no longer our supreme public virtue. Nowadays, we value physical attractiveness instead. We spend billions simply to appear attractive. Dallas Willard says we aren't even aiming for Andy Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame — these days, we're willing to settle for 15 seconds of fame, content to turn a few heads when we walk into a room. We aren't looking for authentic relationships, or even casual friendship, just a split-second response to our appearance from a stranger. Willard says that on the scale of social interaction, attractiveness is at the bottom of the barrel.

But Jesus never met a stranger. Our Lord loved robust social interactions, even with people He had just met. Consider some of the things He said to people right after meeting them: "Zacchaeus, you come down from that tree right now and throw another steak on the barbee. I'm coming to your house for dinner." "Peter, you big old rock, I have a dream for your life . . ." And to this woman He says, "Ma'am, may I trouble you for a drink of water?" Jesus never knew a stranger. To know Jesus means we will never know a stranger.