By Rev. Paul Graves
Jesus said this to the followers of John the Baptist: “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17, NRSV).
The common people Jesus cared about didn’t have money for new wineskins, so they needed to regularly refresh their wineskins. Whether wine was old or new, the skins needed to stay flexible. Refreshing an old skin involved soaking it in water and then applying an oil to restore its supple and soft texture. Old skins were made fresh again to hold both old and new wine.
Which brings me to fresh wineskins and old politics—the labels “conservative” and “liberal” politics to be exact. The mindset of each label can be quite brittle, often unbending – not unlike a rigid wineskin.
It can be validly argued that each skin may contain both conservative and liberal wine at the same time. We can represent each label given different daily or even political circumstances. I do. I suspect you do, also.
(Hey, I didn’t say this is a perfect metaphor. But please stay with me.)
“Conservative” comes from an ancient French word for “to keep, preserve, keep intact.” The fundamental question: What are you trying to conserve, to keep intact? Too often, the answer focuses on power, money, position, intimidation, etc.
But what if you considered a broader description of “conservative”?
What if being a healthy conservative means to save/preserve all that is good, all that will benefit others and self? I think that description brings a social compassion to being conservative that isn’t found in a rigid form of conservativism.
So, if there is a healthy sense of being conservative – I quickly claimed this as mine – can there also be a healthy sense of being liberal? Of course there is. I claim that as well. “Liberal” is from an ancient Latin word that describes “gracious, generous” but also “befitting a free person.”
So what do healthy liberals seek to be free from or to free others to do/be? The list is almost endless. So is a list healthy conservatives would make to save/preserve things and the people they cared about. At their centers, both labels just might want to save all that is good, to free people to be fully human.
The conservative and liberal wines may be more alike in their essence than we usually consider. So perhaps how the wineskins are renewed makes a real difference.
What’s in the oil that makes the leather more supple and forgiving? What’s in the oil that merely postpones the brittleness that will eventually burst the old skin?
Brittleness happens to conservative or liberal wineskins alike. It happens if the oil applied contains ingredients like exaggerated arrogance, fear, hate, selective freedom, “other” disrespect, cynicism, distrust, victimization, revenge, hyper-competiveness, life histories that trap people emotionally and spiritually.
The supple and forgiving wineskin uses an oil of basic essentials. It contains ingredients like love, hope, a big dose of humility, self-respect, “other” respect, a desire for other persons’ just treatment, inclusive freedom, trusting of – and cooperation with – others, more-than-survivor mentality, courage, common-sense good.
I know conservatives and liberals whose wineskins are supple and forgiving. I try to live in that skin. I also know conservatives and liberals whose wineskins are brittle or soon-to-be brittle. I suspect you also are – and know – people who embody both labels in both kinds of wineskins.
Jesus’ parable of the wine and wineskins isn’t outwardly religious or spiritual. But it is true to life. Let’s drink to that!
The Rev. Paul Graves is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.
