Inside Out

See if you can follow my drift.
       Inmates in prison refer to me as an outsider.  They are insiders.

We were discussing the Samaritan Woman at the well in John 4. The woman was drawing water from the well at the hottest time of the day.  She was the only one there because no one would go to get water at that particular time, unless they really had to.  So why did she?  We learn that she is not the average wife, at all.  In fact, she has flaunted the social sensibilities because she is living with a man and they were not married. She also was married five times before!  So she was ostracized.

I asked these inmates if they ever felt ostracized, left out, or an outsider.  As soon as I said it, I realized that they literally were ostracized, left out, and outsiders.  But they thought the opposite, because they are on the inside and people like me are the outsiders.

Do you see what I'm saying?

There's a lesson in this exchange.