What Do We Obsess About in Others?

 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” - John 4:17-18

Brenna introduced the story about the woman at the well in a way that probably none of us had heard before. She talked about how all of her past experiences in church had focused on the woman’s sexual history, but how that’s not what Jesus focused on. Jesus simply stated some facts about her relational life and proceeded to pass no judgment whatsoever. He didn’t call her a ‘loose woman’ and he didn’t say she was in sin. He simply put it on the table and recognized the reality of her relational situation.

Instead, what he did do throughout the conversation was that he created a ton of space for her to ask theological questions and to push back on his perspective. He treated her like an adult, like a person with a strong religious background and healthy curiosity and a lot of smarts.

When you interact with others, what do you obsess about? Can you pray about how to hold people in love as people, or do you feel some need to reduce them to something more understandable, predictable, useful or even perhaps disposable? Talk with Jesus about these things.

And here’s a bonus comic to make you smile: