Untangling the Gospel #5: The Point of the Story

Scripture doesn't come to us as a scientific, historical, or legal text. Don't get me wrong. At certain points, elements of law and history peek through the pages. But scripture's purpose isn't to provide historical or scientific knowledge, nor does it lay out for us, point-by-point all of the regulations that we should follow to be pleasing to God.

Scripture is telling a story.

Or better yet: it is asking us to become a part of its story.

For the better part of human history, people have been defined by their stories. You name the culture: native American, African, Asian, Polynesian. All of them possess strong traditions of oral and written storytelling. Mythologies about everything from mermaids to gods on Mount Olympus to great spirits and animal guides rest at the center of life for such people. Stories define cultures, belief systems, and especially faiths.

But in our culture, the power of storytelling has been lost. Mythology has become important not because of what it teaches us, but because of how it helps us to understand others from a sociological viewpoint. Or, alternatively, stories are important only because of their capacity to entertain.

Think about how dismissive we are about stories, mythologies, and fables.

"Its just a myth."

"Thats only an old wives tale."

Or, when a child is in trouble:"Katie? Are you telling a story again?"

"Well, I'm not sure I believe it, but his story is..."

But stories, especially mythologies - old, old ones - and some new ones (I'm thinking of Lord of the Rings or even Star Wars here) contain more truth than all of the scientific and historical texts in the Library of Congress.

Why? Because, unlike the tools of analysis and science, they tell us who we are. They connect with something deep within us - something beyond reason, causing that which we know (but don't necessarily understand) to resonate as truth.

Scripture is a story. A true myth. It may inform science and help us to understand history in useful ways. It may even give us some guidance on how to live our lives in a way that is consistent with God's holiness. But that isn't where the power of scripture lies.

Its real value is light years beyond all of those things.

Scripture is telling us a story. Not just a story, but the story. The story that every other great tale ever told, from The Illiad to The Matrix, is trying to get across.

It is a story with good news. Great news. Unbelievable news. So preposterous sounding that it is almost lauguable. But only almost laughable, because somewhere deep inside of us, it also seems to be resonating, telling us that it is true.

Here, in short, is the plot: God is redeeming all the people of the earth through his son Jesus. Not just you. Not just me. Not just a small collection of people that have their righteousness act together. Everyone. Jews. Christians. Asians. Africans. Homeless. Fatherless. Friendless. Poor. Rich. Crazy. Young. Old. Cranky. Sweet. Selfish. Kind. Sons-of-you-know-whats. All of them.

And before he is done, he will have re-made the entire universe into an unimaginably wonderful place, full of unending life in the wildest ways conceivable.

Here is the thing, however, that, for some reason, we don't want to hear: God wants to partner with us in this redemptive act. He wants us to be representatives of his saving and redeeming presence in the world. He wants us to be the ones that bring peace and hope and joy to the fatherless, the homeless, the orphans, the poor, the dejected.

To join in that story has always required, and will always require, sacrifices and hard choices. To be part of the story, we must learn to give up that part of us that wants to hang on to everything we can get our hands on, and begin to give what we have instead.

"Loose your life," Jesus told us, "and you'll find it."

Because it is so difficult to enter the story, you have to be careful. You may end up trading God's real story for a cheap substitute - a set of modernized "beliefs" that define a God who is small enough to fit in your brain and "easy" enough to make you comfortable in your lifestyle.

Here are a few examples:

The God of the Church Consumer. ("I really love my church/bible class/preacher. I get a lot out of my church."). Church is a great place that has an important part in the story, but if you decide that its purpose is to make you feel good once a week because of the preaching or company that you find there, you aren't yet in the story. You've given it up for a country club that has a few "God trappings" in it.

The God of Worship. In the same way, you might decide that your purpose is to enjoy worship, by singing great songs and praying great prayers and being around people who are passionate about the way they do these things. And don't get me wrong. I love to worship in these ways. I am a huge defender of modern worship against some of its more voiciferous critics. But if you think that you're fulfilling your purpose by having these experiences, you're still not there. You're only touching the surface of the experiences that are waiting for you in the real story.

The God of Blessings. You may be thinking that God's primary role in your life is to provide blessings, especially financial blessings. Again, God has certainly done these things in his story. But the point of following God isn't to cash in on material gain (I actually saw a book cover on this very subject last Sunday that used the words "guaranteed financial results" - or something like that). To the contrary, in that sense, God is really calling you to cash out. God wants to use you to bless others with what you have. If you don't understand that, and you only want to think of God as the God who blesses you, then you still haven't made it into the story.

The God of Prophecy/End Times. You may be thinking that we're living in or near the end times. And, though a lot of people have wrongly believed the same thing throughout history, you could be right, of course. But if you aren't careful, you'll spend all of your time waiting for the end of the story and miss your part in the story in the here and now. Don't miss some of the best chapters in the story in your eagerness to jump to the end.

The God of Science. You may be thinking that the most important thing you can do in life is convince yourself and others that God's existence can be proven scientifically. You may be out to show everyone that a literal seven day creation could have occurred. Or that the entire earth really was covered by a flood at one time. Or that dinosaurs were a part of human history. Or that archaeological evidence supports the biblical record. You need to understand that studying or even proving the historical accuracy of older parts of the story doesn't necessarily get you into the story. Also, please don't get me wrong here, but the story doesn't need your help in that sense. When they see the story in action in the way you live (rather than theory in the way you speak), the deep truths that flow from this story will grab people and shake them. Don't worry. People will make their way into it without all of the science you're bringing to the table.

So, join me, why don't you? Together, lets leave behind all of these cheap substitutes and follow this crazy invitation into Kingdom life, finding our own unique place in the story.

Up next (I think): Being "saved" - what it really means.