People Couldn’t Believe Jesus did This.

Over 2000 years ago a rabbi—exhausted from his walk—sat down at a well.

He spoke to a woman there.

Their conversation was so profound and so convention-defying that we’re still coming to terms with its implications in 2022.

As I re-read this familiar—but still surprising story—I picked up 7 insights and tools for my ministry with those in Rehab. To help me remember them—and to share the wealth—so to speak—I am preserving them here.

First, Jesus used his humanity and his physical need for rest and water to initiate a conversation.

He asked a Samaritan woman to give him a drink a water from the well.

Although he was capable of miraculously feeding thousands, he chose to have his needs met through someone else’s effort and kindness.

This means I can also display my humanity and frailty in my ministry.  I do not need to be uber-competent or pretend to have achieved a level of sanctification that I have not actually achieved. Telling my story, confessing my sins, and asking for help in my own recovery are all acceptable ways to engage those in recovery.

Second, I need to go where people are.

Some commentators say that in the 1st-century wells were places unmarried men went to meet potential mates. Jesus quite literally went to the local watering hole—not the synagogue— to minister to the woman in the story. I can attest to the fact that Resilient Recovery’s practice of going directly to rehabs has been a game-changer for our ministry.

Third, I may end up defying some conventions.

Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well was a scandal. In Jesus’ day, rabbis didn't even greet women in public. Some didn't speak to their own wives in public. One group of rabbis was referred to as the “bruised and bloodied” because of their practice of shutting their eyes when a woman walked by. Walking with their eyes shut caused the rabbis to walk into walls and houses. Jesus not only talked to a woman—he talked to a woman whose sexual sins were so conspicuous other women avoided her. Hence she was at the well in the afternoon, long after the respectable women had finished their water-gathering.

When a dozen or so people in recovery started regularly attending Crosswalk Church, we experienced some unprecedented challenges. I am grateful that our church was able to work through those challenges and come out on the other side stronger.

Fourth, I can’t be picky about who I minister to.

The woman at the well was not only a religious heretic, and ethnically mixed, she was an outcast among her own people. Sharing the message of forgiveness might put me in contact with some people that I might not otherwise meet.

Within an hour of her conversation, the woman at the well called others to come to meet Jesus—an instant conversion to evangelist. This means, leaders in my organization might not be seminary grads—but ordinary, even rough-edged people.

Fifth, I need to present the gospel in a surprising way.

Jesus tells the woman that he himself is living water and those who drink from him will never thirst or die. In doing so, Jesus gives a model of taking an everyday need and using it as a launching point to discuss an eternal longing. This gives me many ideas for lessons that will resonate with my people.

Sixth, frank discussions of sin are not only possible—they are necessary for sharing the gospel.

Some of my co-laborers in this ministry have accepted the myth that we should avoid being “churchy”. They argue that we need to display a ton of street credibility before we could even mention Jesus. Thus, they shy away from discussions of sin until they establish rapport. However, we see something unique in the conversation with the woman at the well. A frank discussion of her sin built rapport. She felt validated and seen rather than judged. I am going to go all in on this point and say glossing over sin might send the message that I can't handle hearing about sin. Worse, it could convey that I am uncomfortable with discussing things that weigh on people’s hearts. The bottom line: Discussing sin can be validating rather than off-putting.

Seventh, we should lead with Jesus—not withhold discussion of Jesus until we have gained rapport.

This is the corollary to the sixth point. Presented accurately, Jesus reaches the lost, the rough-edged, and the broken. Maybe church people don’t connect with sinners. But Jesus sure did. If our churchiness is an obstacle to reaching the lost, that’s our problem. Jesus had no such difficulty. Jesus didn’t send the disciples to warm up the crowd for him. He didn’t display street cred or use rough language. Yet he himself drew sinners in. The bottom line is we need MORE Jesus in our discussion, not less.

Not familiar with the story of the woman at the well?

Here is the full story:

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 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.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”