We are still digging into the Lord’s Word in Matthew 13:52:

          “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

          There are a number of ways to categorize the body of Christ, and one way is into two camps: 1) those mostly devoted to the new thing, and 2) those who are mostly devoted to the old thing, or we should say, the more established, proven way. These are both good and needed, but they are not mutually exclusive. The healthiest of all, the disciples of the kingdom of heaven, are devoted to both the new and the old.

          Those who are mostly devoted to seeking the new thing God is doing may live a more exciting and vibrant spiritual life, but they are also the group most prone to fall into traps or error. Even so, having more life, vision, and purpose are essential for any who seek the Lord. He is the living God and the God of the living. The goal is to keep this life and excitement while being able to avoid the traps by having the humility to learn the ancient paths as well.

          It is true that those who prefer a settled, well-controlled spiritual life and are devoted to the more established way are usually much more stable, but frequently become the Lord’s “frozen chosen,” becoming so rigid that these “old wineskins” cannot handle anything new without breaking. These could be helped by a fellowship with those who are devoted to the new. Again, we need a devotion to both the new and old to be healthy disciples of the kingdom.

          Scribes are a key to having a devotion to both the new and old together and to keep them in balance. As Peter warned that “the untaught and unstable” (see II Peter 3:16) distorted Paul’s teachings, the untaught and unstable have been the source of most of the distortions and destructive heresies in church history. We need the stable and the learned to help prevent this. However, without those who seek the fresh and the new joined to them, they will become rigid and inflexible old wineskins. We need pioneers, but their discoveries will not do much good without settlers coming behind them to plant and build. It is rare to find this partnership in the body of Christ, but it is essential for the recovery of the truly apostolic church. 

          The scribes and Pharisees were the main ones to resist Jesus when He walked the earth. Converts from them introduced the most destructive heresy into the early church, seeking to persuade new converts to keep the law of Moses for righteousness, undercutting the power of the New Covenant and the atonement of the cross. The spirit that drove the scribes and Pharisees in the first century is alive and well today in some circles, viciously attacking almost every new movement in the church.

          Jesus had no problem overcoming the demon-possessed; it was the religious conservatives who had Him crucified. Religious conservatives who are without the fellowship of those seeking the new and fresh can be the most dangerous of all the enemies of the Truth today. The River of Life is a river, not a pond or lake. Water must flow to stay pure, and there is as great of a danger in not moving as in moving without boundaries.

          So we have a problem. The scribes will have the wisdom to bring forth the new and the old, but they also can be biggest source of resistance to the Holy Spirit. Actually we have this same problem with everyone. There is no people group that we can point to as having answers that have not also created problems. This is why there are two crucial points we must not miss in the Scripture that is quoted above: “every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven….”

          The first point is that a disciple is a student, not a teacher. The scribes that become resistant to the new usually do so because they start to consider themselves as teachers more than as disciples themselves, ever learning and seeking more depth and insight into the truth. When we lose the love of learning, we will become an old wineskin very fast.

          The second crucial point is that we must not become disciples of a certain person, movement, or theological camp, but a “disciple of the kingdom of heaven.” Anyone who thinks that they have such a grasp on the kingdom of heaven that they do not need to continue to be a disciple has fallen to the ultimate delusion of ultimate pride.

          How do we become and stay a disciple of the kingdom of heaven? That is our subject for next week.