It's Not About the Plumbing
Thirst: Part 5
March 22, 2026
The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.”
~ John 4:19-20
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We've all heard it said, "Don't talk about religion or politics in polite company." On one hand, this kind of social etiquette has resulted in the inability to have rational dialogue and healthy disagreement about anything of great importance. Simply look at the comment section of any online article or social media post about a religious or political topic and you'll see what I mean.
On the other hand, these topics can easily be used as a distraction from the real issue at hand. If we don't like something a person is saying, all we have to do is find something about their political views or religious beliefs that we don't agree with, and immediately we are able to brush off anything they say as irrelevant. When teaching on Jesus' command to love and forgive our enemies, for example, I have been told on more than one occasion that I only believe that stuff because I'm a "liberal." That assumption has then been used to accuse me of believing many other things which I don't support.
Many Christians avoid sharing their faith because they fear the response someone might give if they start talking about "religion". But in his conversation with the woman, Jesus didn't bring up religion at all. He talked about water and about her family, but not once did he mention church or sin or heaven or hell or any of those other topics we are so uncomfortable bringing up.
It is the woman who brings up both religion and politics, and particularly the hot-button issues that most strongly divided the Jews and the Samaritans. I'm not convinced she brings it up as a serious inquiry. She may genuinely have a religious question about the appropriate place to worship, but in this context, it feels more like a distraction.
She doesn't want to talk about her life. The conversation has gotten too personal. Solution... let's talk about something else, and not just anything else, but something that will surely offend this Jewish rabbi so much that maybe, just maybe, he'll leave me alone. Better to get him arguing about where to worship than to let him see me cry over my miserable life.
I have been in more than my share of conversations where a person threw out every theological dilemma they could think of, from the problem of evil to evolution to the hypocrisy of Christians to the beliefs of other religions, etc., just to make it clear why they would never come to church. The more I can provide "satisfactory scholarly answers," the more irritated they get, until they finally run out of excuses and quickly end the conversation.
They were never really looking for answers. They just didn't want to talk about the deeper issues.
What if we were more concerned with the heart and soul of a person than about defending our beliefs?
What if we focused less on where people should worship and more on the presence of God already there in our midst?
What if the Spirit of Truth was already speaking into our conversations, just waiting to be heard?