Bill Adams, CEO of a large hospital in Virginia, received a frantic call from a woman whose mother had died a few days earlier at the medical center. Prior to her death, the woman had lost her wedding ring somewhere in the hospital. The grieving daughter explained that her parents had been married for 50 years, and that her dad wanted to slip the ring back on his wife’s finger before they buried her.

Moved by the woman’s story, Bill promised to do all he could to help. The staff did a thorough search, but came up empty. Restless, Bill went to the basement of the hospital and climbed into a bin—amid wet, soggy, dirty laundry. Amazingly, there he found the ring! Bill’s up close and personal leadership yielded great fruit.

In John 4, out of divine necessity, Jesus got up close and personal and sorted through some of the cultural “dirty laundry” of His day. He crossed cultural barriers by going through Samaria (Jews considered Samaritans half-breeds) and talking to a woman (it was forbidden for a man, especially a rabbi, to talk to a woman in public). He did this because His mission was to seek and save the lost.

He established common ground with the Samaritan woman (John 4:7), piqued her spiritual interest and curiosity (John 4:9-14), was gracious and sensitive as He confronted her sin (John 4:17-18), kept the conversation centered on the main issue (John 4:19-25), and revealed Himself as Messiah (John 4:26). Jesus’ up close and personal style of evangelism yielded a great harvest of Samaritans who believed in Him as their Savior.

Jesus is calling each of His followers to go to great lengths to help those who are lost in the “dirty laundry” of our culture. He wants us to introduce them to the only One who can satisfy their deepest longings.