“Nobody,” he continued, “sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on to an old coat. If he does, the new patch tears away from the old and the hole is worse than ever. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine bursts the skins, the wine is spilt and the skins are ruined. No, new wine must go into new wineskins.”

Mark 2:21-22 (Phillips)

We need sound theology and strong spirituality to thrive as individuals and as a community. Theology guides us to the truth of God, while spirituality allows us to personally experience God in His truth. As an analogy, theology establishes the framework and overall structure of a house, spirituality is what transforms a house into a home. Instead of elevating one over the other, the crucial thing is to embrace both as inseparable aspects of living a flourishing life in Christ.

According to Jesus, new wine needs new wineskins to contain it. Similarly, the new wine of spirituality must be put into new theological wineskin in order for both to be preserved while also actively bringing fresh energy and new beginnings to the people of God. That doesn't imply we abandon well established Christian traditions or declare them obsolete. Rather, we do not limit God's ability to renew our knowledge and understanding of His Scripture and Spirit.

Time and again in church history, God sovereignly through His Scripture and through His Spirit and through His people ushers in times of refreshing. Every time this occurs, a new surge of energy and momentum for the gospel to permeate our culture is released. Often these disruptive moves of God rupture certain theological wineskins because they couldn’t contain the emerging “new wine” of the good news.

Test the Spirit by all means and learn to discern between a true move of God and a false one. But don't resist God when you know that He is the One who is doing a marvellous work in your midst. This is what Jesus is telling us. We can get so comfortable in our own “theological skin” that we miss out on the opportunity to encounter God afresh.