Life Outside the Box?

    The other day I heard someone mention life outside the box and I got to thinking, is that really where we want to exist? People use this reference all the time with the obvious intention being nonconformity and counterculturalism. Most people I associate with work real hard not to sell out to the dominant values and behavior of society. Instead they strive to be different, to stand out, and pretend as though norms don't matter. We see the same sort of attitude in the church. In an effort to be different the church often ostracizes itself and its community. And while most believe that existing outside the box is a radical and revolutionary way to live, what they fail to realize is that in so doing they still allow the box to be a reference point in how they conduct their lives. In other words, if we live in the box, or outside it, the box is still a part of our existential existence. It defines who you are and is the filter through which you sift all of your experiences. I want to argue that we should be striving as individuals and as a church not to live in a box, or outside of the box, but without it.
    Jesus said, "No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins" (Luke 5:37-38). But why talk about the contrast between old and new? What is new that would be ruined by attaching it an old wineskin or for our reference the box? Jesus delivered this radical message of Good News to the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the sick, the fractured of his society (Luke 4:18-19). This Gospel when predisposed to the legalism and external practices of the religious in Jesus day was hindered, tainted, and susceptible. Only when received apart from the old can it be effective. 
    Back in the 90's under the leadership of Bill Hybels a seeker friendly model began taking the church by storm. The general idea involved major changes to the old ways of doing church. Choruses instead of hymns, flashy videos to compliment the messages, and water downed Gospel to win the masses. In an effort to attract unchurched people, the "seeker sensitive" movement suggested that churches should cater to the comforts of the "seeker" and should update both style and presentation so as to make the experience, and the Gospel, less offensive. By eliminating the alleged "negative" elements deemed a "turn off" to the world, "seeker" advocates assured us we'd fill the seats on Sunday morning. This "seeker sensitive" model worked if you simply wanted a crowd, but if the idea is to lead people into a sincere, mature relationship with Christ, it was a bust. 
    My generation is a byproduct of that model. A model which took new wine and tried to pour it into old wineskins. Subtly the overriding goal was church attendance and worldly acceptability rather than a transformed life.  The remnant of this movement is a church trying to redefine itself again. But here in lies the problem, as we try to reinvent church we naturally fall back onto what we know. We think we are doing something unique, but really we are only trying to reinvent the wheel or live outside the box. Our attempts at living outside the box merely subjects us to the box. So how do we end this cycle?
    At the close of Jesus parable of the wineskins, Jesus puts it this way: "And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better' " (Luke 5:39). It's easy to fall back into what we are familiar and comfortable with, and justify it, rather than launch out into a life that is guided not by the external (i.e. the box) but rather the voice of the Spirit of God. The two are opposites, the old and the new. You cannot combine them without destroying both.
    No, Jesus insists that the Gospel of the Kingdom must not be hindered, it must be free to work its power not controlled or limited by anything. The new wine may not be as smooth to the tongue, and finely aged as the old wine. It may be a bit sharp and unrefined. But it is alive. You cannot contain it in old structures, you must find new wineskins for it. Only when we are willing to let go of those external things which define our existence (i.e. our box) will we live in the fullness and freedom of God's Spirit. It's not enough to simply live outside of the box.