Submitted by Pastor David Shadinger, Rock Port and Watson United Methodist Churches

If you have ever moved to a new town, you know the routine. You look for a grocery store, a pharmacy, and restaurants. You search out a doctor, a mechanic and schools. In our culture, we look-search-shop for everything – including churches.

While “church shopping” is not a flattering phrase, it fits today’s culture. It can also feel overwhelming. However, that type of confusion isn’t new.

There’s a story in the Bible about a Samaritan woman who asked Jesus for the proper place to worship. Her people said one specific mountain. The Jews insisted on Jerusalem.

Jesus’ answer still cuts through centuries of debate: He said true believers “worship in spirit and in truth;” wherever they are.

Interestingly, before this chance meeting Jesus did something equally important. In the 1st Century, most Jews bypassed Samaria because of deep cultural, religious and ethnic hostility. They would take a weeklong detour around the country. Jesus did not do that.

Instead, he walked straight into Samaria and stopped at a well. There he met a woman who was socially isolated, rebuked by the town’s people and suffered a miserably complicated life. Yet Jesus spoke to her with dignity and compassion. No judgment. No condemnation. Not even a lecture about her questionable lifestyle choices; just a spiritual gift – “living water.”

Ultimately, the woman’s question about worship raises a similar one for us. When you shop for a church, what are you really looking for: Comfortable seating? A specific type of music? A certain preaching style? Or are you looking for something deeper: Truth spoken with love, worship that’s genuine, and a community where newcomers are welcomed!

The point is not to find the perfect church, which may not exist. Maybe it’s finding the place where you feel welcome, accepted and “living water” still flows.