Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia missional community in Houston, was on deck for Session 3. He delivered a great talk on the value of Story over proposition.
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We need a larger view of the Scriptures and what God’s story is. God has revealed to us in the Scripture. There is nothing better to fight over than the Bible. This message of love and reconciliation, now let’s beat the hell out of each other over it.
We love the Bible not because it is an object that brings us joy, but because it points us to a relationships with a loving and living God.
For example, the Creation story gives us our identity and purpose. What do we do with it? We spend a lot of time arguing about how long a day is.
We need to keep the bigger purpose of God’s story in mind.
In the beginning was the Word. Logos. The Word. The Word is not the Bible. The Word is Jesus. John is saying, “It’s more than word. It is active. Before time itself was active. The voice was God. His speech created the entire cosmos. His breathe filled all things with a living breathing light. Light that blazes in the murky darkness. It cannot be drenched.”
It centers where? Jesus.
Our lives are meaningless outside of God’s story. We’re just a little, nothing, disconnected narrative without God’s story defining it. To often we read the Bible for principles only, like we are outside the Story. We are in the Story. In it we see in it we are broken and sinful. We are in need of rescue. We can be redeemed. WE can join God in the redemption of this planet.
The way we teach history in the US is deeply broken. The reason the way we teach it in US is because we are totally and completely focused on the proposition. There are facts we need to drill in for the test. After the test, we lose it forever. Why do we loose it? They have never heard the story.
Propositions will not save you. We need the Story.
Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Facts (recommended reading) Wineburg.
You can’t just tell a story. You have to tell a story that invites people into inquiry and detection.
Jesus told stories that never made you feel like you had the answers. They humble you. They cause you to pray. They make you wonder.
At seminary, we teach people to break down Jesus stories into a couple principles, like he couldn’t have done it himself.
We are called to be apart of the Logos, God’s active word in the world.
We wither in anger, sin, and institutionalism.
Jesus says, Come to me all who is weary and I’ll give you rest. we like that part. He’s calling us to the spa. But, he doesn’t stop there. How?
Take my yoke upon you. A big massive yoke that you would put on an ox. Put this massive thing on you like you are plowing the ground. But it is perfectly made for you. We’re not tired because we are doing to much. We are tired because we are doing the wrong things. When we are doing God’s mission, we are more energized than ever. But when we live in other narratives like consumerism, we are exhausted all the time.
Instead of looking down on people, we are the ones who say every brokenness is an opportunity for God to be about His restoration.
We believe as we put Jesus yoke on us, something comes alive!
Until we bring the Whole Gospel to the Whole World, we are missing something.
I cannot be at #story09(wish I was), but I'm loving the notes! Thanks for typing them!
Posted by: Connie Firmin | October 28, 2009 at 01:10 PM