Story
In one of the book clubs I'm currently a part of, we're reading Trevor Hudson's "Discovering Your Spiritual Identity." Hudson is from South Africa (which makes for some interesting asides...like when he talks about doing something last June during the winter months...but I digress...), and his contention is that in order for us to really know Jesus, we have to begin by figuring out who we are in Christ. To that end, he proposes several "holy experiments" for believers to begin to connect better with God.
In one of those experiments, Hudson contends (rightly so) that a large part of our problem in twenty-first century Christianity is that we don't know who we are; we've forgotten our story. And by "our story," he's referring to something larger than the forty-six years I've been on earth (or however many years you've been on earth). He's not talking about our personal story (though that's important, but only after we know "our story"). He's talking about the "church's story," the story of the faith. We have reduced The Story into small snippets, religious sound bites and moral lessons and we've forgotten that The Story is our story and it's meant to shape us.
The Bible is not a rule book. It's a story—the story of God's love for humankind, the story of God reaching out to humankind, shaping us, loving us, making us who we were meant to be. Ultimately, it's the story of God redeeming that which is already his, buying us back and giving everything he has in order to do so. The Bible is a love story, a redemption story, a reclaiming story.
But we've forgotten that. We use the Bible for what we want it to be. We grab a verse here and a saying there and have no idea how that fits into the whole story. We "steal" what we think we need for the day and then we move on. We look for inspiration, asking the Bible to help us feel good, when really what the Word of God intends to do is change us—radically change us. The Word of God was given to us to remake us—to reclaim the image of God that has been in us from the beginning but was damaged by sin.
So for a bit here on the ol' blog, I think I'd like to try my hand at recounting The Story, perhaps in a fresh way (that remains to be seen). It's a marvelous journey, and part of my holy experiment for this next period of time is to remember "my story," who I am in Christ, to find my place in the story. I invite you to join me. It's bound to be a bumpy, confusing, glorious and wonderful ride. We'll start tomorrow at—where else?—the beginning.
In one of those experiments, Hudson contends (rightly so) that a large part of our problem in twenty-first century Christianity is that we don't know who we are; we've forgotten our story. And by "our story," he's referring to something larger than the forty-six years I've been on earth (or however many years you've been on earth). He's not talking about our personal story (though that's important, but only after we know "our story"). He's talking about the "church's story," the story of the faith. We have reduced The Story into small snippets, religious sound bites and moral lessons and we've forgotten that The Story is our story and it's meant to shape us.
The Bible is not a rule book. It's a story—the story of God's love for humankind, the story of God reaching out to humankind, shaping us, loving us, making us who we were meant to be. Ultimately, it's the story of God redeeming that which is already his, buying us back and giving everything he has in order to do so. The Bible is a love story, a redemption story, a reclaiming story.
But we've forgotten that. We use the Bible for what we want it to be. We grab a verse here and a saying there and have no idea how that fits into the whole story. We "steal" what we think we need for the day and then we move on. We look for inspiration, asking the Bible to help us feel good, when really what the Word of God intends to do is change us—radically change us. The Word of God was given to us to remake us—to reclaim the image of God that has been in us from the beginning but was damaged by sin.
So for a bit here on the ol' blog, I think I'd like to try my hand at recounting The Story, perhaps in a fresh way (that remains to be seen). It's a marvelous journey, and part of my holy experiment for this next period of time is to remember "my story," who I am in Christ, to find my place in the story. I invite you to join me. It's bound to be a bumpy, confusing, glorious and wonderful ride. We'll start tomorrow at—where else?—the beginning.
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