Lent Exercises: Imagine - Discipling our Theological Imagination

In a church racked with sex scandals we need a new theological imagination.  This morning another large Christian organization crossed my newsfeed with an apology to women who experienced sexual harassment. These stories are heartbreaking.  They trigger disappointment and shame.  

Articles, like the one I read this morning, rightly appeal to accountability and organizational best practice as a solution to harassment.  This is good.  Clearly, shared ethics and, ‘good intentions,’ are insufficient.  

And yet… it’s not just our organizations that need renewal.  When our theological imagination colludes with the impulse to sexualize others, or to blame women for the sexual behavior of men, we need renewal.  

John 4:1-30 tells the story of Jesus’ interactions with a woman at a well near Samaria.  This passage is a clear example of our need for a new imagination.  Popular preaching and teachings of this passage often focuses on the woman.  She’s had five husbands.  She’s there in the middle of the day (not with the other women early in the morning).  She tells Jesus she has no husband, perhaps suggesting she’s sexually available.  These readings reinforce the woman as temptress.  They see Jesus as ‘redeeming’ her from this negative stereotype.  

The application of this kind of reading often goes something like, “This woman has tried to fill her life with things that won’t satisfy her, (sex and relationships), but Jesus invites her to find her true satisfaction in him.”  

But what if our imaginations were shaped a little differently?  What if we knew that women couldn’t initiate divorce, or a marriage for that matter?  What if this woman’s relational status was the direct result of the choices of men in her life?  Would she still be a temptress?  Would it still be fair to say that she was looking to ‘fill herself’ with the wrong things?  

Or consider that Jesus asks her for a drink, despite an ethnic hostility that kept Jews from sharing with Samaritans.  Or consider that Jesus invites her into a dialogue, inviting her to reflect on an image, (that of living water) he’d later offer in the middle of the temple (John 7).  

Try imagining the scene with these thoughts in view?  Does the woman at the well become a little more three dimensional?  Can you relate to her multiple identities and experiences? 

Now, imagine Jesus speaking with her from a posture of curiosity, humility, and respect.  What do you notice?

Finally, imagine you’re there with Jesus.  Imagine Jesus turning and speaking to you in a similar way.  What invitation does Jesus have for you?  How does it make you feel?  What insights about Jesus emerge from your reflection?