The EPIC Church!
10/03/08 09:30
Check out the following words by N. T. Wright:
"...Most of the Bible does not consist of rules and regulations—lists of commands to be obeyed. Nor does it consist of creeds—lists of things to be believed. And often, when there ARE lists of rules or of creedal statements, they seem to be somewhat incidental to the purpose of the writing…”
“…much of what we call the Bible—the Old and New Testaments—is not a rule book; it is narrative."
“…God has given us so much story, so much narrative in scripture. Story authority, as Jesus knew only too well, is the authority that really works. Throw a rule book at people’s head, or offer them a list of doctrines, and they can duck or avoid it, or simply disagree and go away. Tell them a story, though, and you invite them to come into a different world; you invite them to share a world-view or better still a ‘God-view’… Stories determine how [people] experience God, and the world, and themselves, and others. Great revolutionary movements have told stories about the past and present and future. They have invited people to see themselves in that light, and people’s lives have been changed. If that happens at a merely human level, how much more when it is God himself, the creator, breathing through his word.”
“Scripture is… the book through which the Spirit assures us that we are his people and through which he sends us out into the world to tell the Jesus story, that is, the Israel story which has become the Jesus story which together is God’s story for the [whole] world. It is the story [that] confirms the fact that God… redeemed the world in Jesus Christ. It is the story [that] breaks open all other world-views and, by so doing, invites men and women, young and old, to see this story as their story. In other words, as we let the Bible be the Bible, God works through us-and it-to do what he intends to do in and for the church and the world.”
(Originally published in Vox Evangelica, 1991, 21, 7–32. Viewed on-line at: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm)
Maybe one of the major barriers to Christianity in North America is the way in which Christians have often viewed the Bible: as a "rulebook" or as a "textbook." When we focus primarily on a rulebook, the Christian faith becomes a very "you're-in-or-you're-out" exclusive kind of group. When we focus on Scripture as a textbook, Christianity sometimes tries to use the Bible to prove that it is right about things that it is not the primary source of answers for (e.g. the Bible is not primarily a book on science!).
I believe that the U of A needs to see a humble, Christ-following community that is living a godly, principled life in the context of the Grand Story. More than anything, the Bible seems to exist to give us the foundation for the Grand Story of all time: the Story of God, humanity, and the universe. Every part of creation, and every human being, is not just a mere "actor" in that Story... - we are all real-life characters.
In light of the fact that we are all a part of this story, as Christ-followers on campus, let's journey with people and invite them to share our view, rather than dictating or debating with them. Almost everyone loves a good "epic" movie, novel, or story of some sort. Let's be an "Epic Church" that calls people to be the character they were created to be in this "Epic of all Epics": The Story of God, humanity, and the universe.
"...Most of the Bible does not consist of rules and regulations—lists of commands to be obeyed. Nor does it consist of creeds—lists of things to be believed. And often, when there ARE lists of rules or of creedal statements, they seem to be somewhat incidental to the purpose of the writing…”
“…much of what we call the Bible—the Old and New Testaments—is not a rule book; it is narrative."
“…God has given us so much story, so much narrative in scripture. Story authority, as Jesus knew only too well, is the authority that really works. Throw a rule book at people’s head, or offer them a list of doctrines, and they can duck or avoid it, or simply disagree and go away. Tell them a story, though, and you invite them to come into a different world; you invite them to share a world-view or better still a ‘God-view’… Stories determine how [people] experience God, and the world, and themselves, and others. Great revolutionary movements have told stories about the past and present and future. They have invited people to see themselves in that light, and people’s lives have been changed. If that happens at a merely human level, how much more when it is God himself, the creator, breathing through his word.”
“Scripture is… the book through which the Spirit assures us that we are his people and through which he sends us out into the world to tell the Jesus story, that is, the Israel story which has become the Jesus story which together is God’s story for the [whole] world. It is the story [that] confirms the fact that God… redeemed the world in Jesus Christ. It is the story [that] breaks open all other world-views and, by so doing, invites men and women, young and old, to see this story as their story. In other words, as we let the Bible be the Bible, God works through us-and it-to do what he intends to do in and for the church and the world.”
(Originally published in Vox Evangelica, 1991, 21, 7–32. Viewed on-line at: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm)
Maybe one of the major barriers to Christianity in North America is the way in which Christians have often viewed the Bible: as a "rulebook" or as a "textbook." When we focus primarily on a rulebook, the Christian faith becomes a very "you're-in-or-you're-out" exclusive kind of group. When we focus on Scripture as a textbook, Christianity sometimes tries to use the Bible to prove that it is right about things that it is not the primary source of answers for (e.g. the Bible is not primarily a book on science!).
I believe that the U of A needs to see a humble, Christ-following community that is living a godly, principled life in the context of the Grand Story. More than anything, the Bible seems to exist to give us the foundation for the Grand Story of all time: the Story of God, humanity, and the universe. Every part of creation, and every human being, is not just a mere "actor" in that Story... - we are all real-life characters.
In light of the fact that we are all a part of this story, as Christ-followers on campus, let's journey with people and invite them to share our view, rather than dictating or debating with them. Almost everyone loves a good "epic" movie, novel, or story of some sort. Let's be an "Epic Church" that calls people to be the character they were created to be in this "Epic of all Epics": The Story of God, humanity, and the universe.
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