Foundation: Story
Telling a Grand Story
At the foundation of any culture is a shared narrative. The story that we have received in the Scriptures, of God and his people is, without question, the narrative upon which the culture of the church must stand. This story encompasses all human existence, from our pre-history to our final destiny. It offers a comprehensive and absolute way of understanding ourselves, the world, and ourselves in the world.
You might think such an all-encompassing story could be a liability in the face of a postmodern culture which distrusts “metanarratives.” Standard Christian apologetics for postmodern encounter calls us to make a case for the unique qualities of the Christian metanarrative. We should highlight its “antitotalizing” nature in contrast to the “oppressive” nature of the narratives of modernity. They are rationalistically contrived, while the Christian story is revealed. Rather than serving to legitimize existing power structures, this story serves to critique and challenge even those who tell it.
While these emphases might bolster an apologetic dialogue with our culture, for our purposes of cultural architecture, our best strategy is simply to tell the story. We aim, after all, to create an alternative culture. We would not, then, try to tell our story in a way that would accommodate the culture’s preferences or diffuse its objections, merely to make it more palatable or less offensive. On the contrary, we will emphasize that which is distinct, which defines us as a community that is unlike any other in the world. Many themes of the biblical story could serve this purpose, but I would suggest two which should be at the core of the story and the culture of a Christian community.
The Story of Redemption
First, the Christian metanarrative is a story of redemption. Were we to divide the biblical story into three acts, they might be titled “Fall, Quest, and Redemption.” In the inciting incident, man’s sin upsets the beauty of God’s good creation, plunging him into a state of separation from his creator, with destructive implications in the spiritual, social, and material realms. In the story’s quest, God initiates a long, painful and often frustrating process for bringing his creation back into right relationship with himself. The climax and resolution of the story reveal God’s ultimate answer to the problem: he graciously offers redemption in his crucified and risen Son.
The theme of redemption and grace, evident in the metanarrative of the Bible, also comes to life in the smaller stories that make up the larger story. From the faltering yet redeemed lives of Old Testament patriarchs, kings and prophets, to the encounters and parables of Jesus, God’s quest to restore a broken humanity is the overarching plot-line behind every episode. It is also the story of each member of the Christian community. Sin brings brokenness. Grace redeems and restores. Whatever the unique characteristics of any church, the story of redemption provides the fundamental underpinnings that make it a Christian community.
The Story of God’s Reign
The Christian story is also, at its core, the story of the reign of God. At no time in our narrative does God lose control of his creation. He speaks the world into being. He defines the parameters of life. He pronounces and executes judgment. He causes kingdoms to rise and fall. He delivers his people in his time and in his way. He rules over history to bring about his purposes. Only his plans come to fulfillment. In the end, only his will is done, and only he receives glory.
The message Jesus proclaimed was the story of the Kingdom of Heaven. He described God’s reign as a hidden treasure discovered in a field, as a pearl of great price, as a tiny seed with vast potential, and as a speck of yeast that transforms an entire lump of dough. His death and resurrection not only bring about a substitutionary atonement (the redemption narrative), but also his ultimate victory over sin, death, and hell. He is Christus Victor, the Lord who reigns today and throughout eternity, over a kingdom that is already established, but not yet fully consummated. The church is built on the underlying story of God’s reign throughout history past, present and future. Therefore it lives as a distinctive community in the world not with a shallow triumphalism, but with a unique combination of humility and confidence.
In a culture driven by the stories of self-help solutions and individual autonomy, the story of God’s redemption and reign stands in striking contrast. To the extent that this story lies at the foundation of the church’s culture, this contrast will also be evident in its life. The metanarrative of redemption and kingdom may and should weave its way into many facets of the community’s life, but no aspect bears more of the responsibility than the pulpit. If the church is to present an alternative culture to the world, preachers must clearly tell an alternative story.
In the next post of this series, we will examine how this narrative foundation finds full conceptual clarity in answers to the four worldview questions.
