A Wineskins Moment

My seminary thesis focused on Ephesians 4:11-13 and how campus ministries could equip college students for church leadership. Already, I was assuming they would lack proper training during their developmental years at home and in the church.

I recently saw a video by a man introducing himself as the new senior leader of a campus ministry. He briefly laid out his vision for the ministry. One was equipping students for the work of the gospel. For most of my years in campus ministry, my assumption and the assumption of my colleagues was students didn’t arrive on campus equipped in the basics of the Christian life. It was our job to do that.  And we did. I never questioned it. It was just what we did. And this campus pastor is doing the same thing.

As I wrote earlier, that changed during the last five years of my ministry to college students when I finally began to question our assumptions. They were accurate, but why? My conclusion was, and is, that the local church is failing to equip young people for ministry after they graduate from high school. The primary role of church leadership is equipping believers for ministry in the world. The passage in Ephesians goes hand in hand with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) The only way for the Church to make disciples is to equip people to make disciples. That is done primarily not through a sermon or a class, but through sharing life as followers of Jesus; in community that exists for the purpose of demonstrating what life in the Kingdom of God looks like.

I am reminded of Jesus’ teaching on wineskins (Mark 2:21-22) when He said that new wine requires new wineskins. Jesus was talking about the Gospel. The “old wineskins” of the Temple and synagogue could not manage the teachings of Jesus. New wineskins were necessary. It seems human nature tends to gravitate to the old wineskins because they are familiar, even if ineffective. The Jews, and even the disciples, wanted to hold onto the old wineskins. Jesus said it couldn’t be done without compromising the Gospel. 

I believe we are in another “wineskin” moment. The local church has for decades used old wineskins to carry out the work of the Kingdom. By any measure, it has been ineffective. The local church is not equipping believers for effective ministry. Nor is it making disciples. Rather, it is maintaining the status quo, keeping the old wineskins in use when they have long outlived their usefulness. And, like the Jewish leaders in the 1st Century, they are quite content to maintain them.

The Gospel is always new, but the wineskins age and become inflexible; thus, stifling the freedom of the Gospel to adapt to new challenges and contexts. It is past time to switch out the wineskins. 

Changing up the worship service is just the beginning, but we must start somewhere. But I think we need to think much bigger than that and ask challenging questions, such as, are our church buildings serving the work of the Kingdom? Most would automatically say yes, but have we truly contemplated this question? Think of all the money spent on a building, first to build it and then to maintain it. Does the building serve as a launching point for ministry in the community or does it lead to greater inward focus? Would we still be a church without the building and, if so, why?

Another question to ask is what is the Church’s main mission? Many say it is to get people saved. But then, what of discipleship? We are commanded by Jesus to make disciples, but a strong belief exists among many churches that leading people to salvation is more important. How do we resolve that discrepancy and how will our wineskins reflect that?

Thus far, I have spent my time in this Substack space talking about the need for change and why. I’ve reached the point that I can say little more. To summarize, local churches need to promote and engage in authentic Christian community to lay the groundwork for making disciples. Currently, they are not doing that very well. Many questions of purpose and mission need to be asked; many changes need to be made. The old wineskins must be cast aside. The easiest place to start is with dramatic changes in the worship services since the vast majority of people to whom churches minister are present on Sunday mornings. The changes I have suggested over the past couple of months I believe can be a starting point. 

People are longing for community. We are one of the loneliest cultures in the world. The new wine of the Gospel is what will ultimately quinch that thirst, if only we provide the new wineskins to make it available to them. We are currently in a wineskin moment. Will we choose like the religious leaders of the 1st Century to hold on for dear life the old wineskins that can’t possibly contain the Gospel and bring to people what they desperately need? Or will we follow the bold teaching of Jesus that the Gospel needs new wineskins to carry it effectively. It is our choice. The question is do we have the courage to follow Jesus where He leads no matter the cost?

Until next time . . .

© Jim Musser 2026