The Parable of the Water Bearers

Imagine you and I and a hundred others are shipwrecked on an island. As the group figures out how to survive, the two of us explore the interior and stumble across a plentiful spring of fresh water. Eureka!

We grab buckets and cart some down to the thirsty people below. And wow, are they parched! Back up the hill we go to get some more, and down again to deliver. As the days go on, what began as a great discovery becomes hard and relentless work, back and forth, up and down, over and over. Who’d want to be a water-person? 

Now I hope you’re thinking: Wouldn’t it make more sense to simply tell the others where they can get the water? To offer to show them the way? Even if only some agree to come, aren’t we all better off? More water-bearers, and more water all round.

Consider the chain of outcomes if we don’t:

1. The constant needs of others overwhelm us to the point where we barely have energy to supply water to ourselves and immediate families.
2. Others then turn to brackish ground water, any water, even seawater, in their thirst – and it drives them mad.
3. We begin to close our eyes to the thirst-mad islanders. We tell ourselves that they’re not that thirsty, or that they should have been smart enough to discover what we did. Or that some are simply fated to go thirsty.
4. Our growing disinterest in the others is reciprocated: The longer we go without mentioning our discovery, the less inclined they will be to believe we have anything at all. Silence speaks volumes.
5. When eventually Rescue comes, and all is said and done, who’s in trouble? You and I are, for privatising the water that was sufficient for all.

Evangelism is a justice issue. The pervasive idea that the noblest form of Christianity is seen-and-not-heard is nonsense. Every person should get to hear the good news that there is living water, that it’s freely available at the Source, and given fair access to the Source.

Conveying water to others is good – don’t put your bucket down! Give people a taste. But conveying a simple message as well weighs nothing and can change everything. Do the thirsty people around you know about living water and how to get it?