This past weekend, our church continued the series, “Bad Boys of the Bible.” As you know, I find that reviewing these lessons here is the best way for me to share the word of God as well as reflect on the lesson each week.First, we took a look back at some of the most popular bad boys of our time:
- 1950s: The original bad boy of Hollywood…Mr. James Dean. He lived by these words, “Live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse.” And he did.
- 1970s: The “Fonz”
- 1980s: Bad boy on the tennis courts. John McEnroe
- 1990s: Dennis Rodman
- 2000s: Big Ben Roethlisberger
- Today: Mr. Tiger Blood himself…Charlie Sheen – who until recently was the highest paid actor on television.
- Even better…Bentley???
What is it about “BAD BOYS” that makes our heart go weak? What’s the appeal? I’m as guilty of it as the next – just before meeting my husband, I couldn’t get enough of this type. Actually, if I’m honest, I actually married a reformed bad boy. So help me out…why are we attracted to these types of guys?
Shaunti Feldhahn, wrote a book called FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY. In this book, she interviewed a number of young women to help young men understand “the alien gender.” In one of her chapters, she focuses on “bad boy.” Interestingly enough, what she found was that women are attracted to specific qualities that most bad boys have such as:
- Confidence
- Adventuresome Spirit
- Spontaneity
- Protective Instinct
- Dominance
- Decisiveness
In her studies, she also found a number of qualities that were not attractive (such as foul language, arrogance, “smart mouth,” and sarcasm) about “bad boys,” but the attractive qualities seem to lure us in.Whatever the case, this week’s message was all about the most notorious bad boy of them all.
- This man should have been a no-name based on who his parents were and where he was born.
- He was a “know-it-all.” Everything he said was said with absolute authority.
- Rather than fight with weapons, he would fight back by drawing a line in the sand.
- He associated with the “low lifes” of society.
- He was not concerned with being accepted by others.
- Even when others doubted him, he still believed.
- People often tried to kill him. Once they did, it didn’t keep him down.
Yes, it was Jesus. Jesus was never a “bad boy” for many of the reasons that the men above were labeled “bad boys;” nor was he disobedient to our Holy Father. However, he was a revolutionary for his time. For example, when Jesus came along, it was unheard of to even say the name of GOD, yet Jesus proclaimed that HE is God.
In John 4, we find Jesus left Judea and went back to Galilee after the Pharisees have learned that he was gaining more popularity (and baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist – he essentially had a big bulls eye on his back). The shortest route from Judea to Galilee would have been to go through Samaria. And in John 4:4, Jesus does just that.
I’m not sure I realized this (or never really processed it), but Samaria was a place that most of the Jewish people avoided…much like avoiding rush hour traffic or a bad part of town, they would go out of their way to avoid the Samaritan people.
John 4:5-10 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 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.) 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.”
So here we have Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman at a well at noon. Most women would have gathered their water in the morning or evening to avoid the heat of the day. We later learn that this woman is unmarried (having been divorced five times) and is living with a man who is not her husband. Jews wouldn’t have associated with her because she’s Samaritan, but even her own people have socially outcast her.
John 4:23-26 “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. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
John 4:28-29: Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
I love that this week we focused on Jesus…who was considered a bad boy of his time. I guess, in this particular instance, it’s a good thing to be attracted to the “bad boy.” Outside of that, there’s a bigger lesson. I think we all know a “Samaritan.” Perhaps it’s an individual…a part of town…a group of people…a coworker…a neighbor…even a family member…maybe you’re the Samaritan. Who are the Samaritans in your life? Who do you avoid? Whoever it is, I think we’ve got to examine why we’re avoiding them.
Jesus goes to great lengths to reach each and every one of us. Therefore, if we are to live our lives like Christ, then we’ve got to change our ways. I mentioned this last week and I think the same holds true, “Give people the benefit of a doubt. Not everyone is out to hurt you. If we only knew (or tried to understand) the baggage people carried around with them, we might be more gracious.” I take it that I still haven’t completely learned this lesson.
If you are interested in seeing/hearing the original message entitled “Shooting Straight,” click HERE.
