My Questions About American Religion #1 - The way we tell the story.

Consider being a parent.  Let's say that you are a parent with 2 kids - identical twins in fact. And being the great scientist that you are, you decide to run an experiment on them (don't actually do this, but run the illustration out with me).

So each time that you see the first twin, we will call him Bill, you remind him of how broken he is. You remind him of his need for change and growth and how short he has fallen of your expectations for him. How does Bill see you? What does Bill believe that you feel about him?

Now, each time you see the second twin, we will call him Joe, you remind him of how much potential he has. And while he may sell himself short at times, he is worth more than he could ever imagine. How does Joe see you? What does Joe believe you feel about him?

Now let's get back to reality. Over time, our friends and family get a bigger picture of who we believe God is based on the little bits and pieces that we share. And given a big enough stretch of time, people begin to develop a larger picture of what they believe God feels about them and what they are supposed to believe about themselves based on that same information.

I grew up in church. And I will be honest, there is a place for the prophet style preaching of repentance and contrition and brokenness.  But the church seems to idolize those teachers that can come in and drop the hammer on a regular basis.  And we use all kinds of "spiritual phrases" to describe what we experience. He really brought conviction... I am ruined by my own sinfulness... I am not worthy of Jesus' love... (this last one is the most offensive to God in my opinion)

I will say that there is a place in the Kingdom of God for "bringing the heat" of conviction in a sermon. But go back to my parenting illustration. What does a steady diet of that do to those we are responsible for? And not only are we responsible for them, but we are also responsible for giving people an accurate picture of who our God is.

Just a side note... I don't know that anyone needs to tell me how much of a sinner I am.  I already know that.  And you would probably say the same thing. And so would the people sitting in your church.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 says, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - WITH GREAT PATIENCE AND CAREFUL INSTRUCTION." (Emphasis is mine)

Part of my concern is that the way we tell the story is neither patient nor careful. We stand in the name of "Truth" and espouse the short comings of men and feel like we have done a good thing.  And again, while the hard line has a place in the story, IT IS NOT THE STORY ITSELF. And perhaps that is what we should be focusing on.

Another part of my concern is that this becomes much like the parenting illustration I used earlier.  And one of my fears is that we are presenting an inaccurate picture of who our God is.  That at the bottom of it there is more about who our parents were than who God really is.  I have GOOD NEWS (a Gospel if you will)  for you. Your parents short comings don't describe God. In fact, they make us long for God even more.

What ever way we choose to tell the story of God and faith and church and "religion," it must begin in the beginning.  It cannot be shaped to the nuances of our personality quirks because we want to bring a "strong word" which winds up being no word at all.

At the risk of turning this into a book, I want to give a perspective that may help.

To begin with, I think it is terribly important to start our story where God starts our story. Not with man at all, but with Him. God gives us an important insight into how He sees our story.

In the beginning, God created. And it was good, it was good, it was good.  This is a recurring theme.  And it is important to note the themes because of course things said over and over again are said for emphasis.  they are supposed to be caught and hung onto.

I tell this story to my daughter.  She is 7.  We adopted her from China. She was born without ears. Deformed, abandoned, worthless to her own mother.  If we start the story with man, or in Genesis 3 with how bad men are, then I have to start her story there.  And her identity becomes someone who is messed up and needs to be rescued. If that is her story, how does she think about how I feel about her, or about how God feels about her?

But what if I start her story where God starts her story? It was good, it was good, it was good, and when God created man and woman, He said, "It is VERY good." When I tell her this story, I make her repeat, "It was good!" and with each day of the creation story she gets more and more excited because the great climax of the story is coming.

So, I say, "And God made man and woman and what did He say?"

"REALLY GOOD!!" she replies back excited, because she knows what is next (we have been down this road before).

"And what did God say when He made you?"

"Perfect!"

"That's right!" I get teared up just writing about this moment that I have shared with my daughter a hundred times. Cause the weighty reality that where we start her story matters so significantly hits me every time.

If I start her story with man's fallenness, then her past, her deformity, her baggage has to be part of the story.  If I start her story with a good God who sees her potential and noticed her and sees her as significant, then her potential and her future and hope rule the conversation.  And that is GOOD NEWS!

Now, I will say that both pieces of the story are real.  Genesis 3 is just as much a part of the story as Genesis 1. But which part do you want to define the story you tell others about your God? Do you want them to hear a story about a good God who created a good world and while our rebellion gets in the way of us joining God in His agenda for this world, He created each of us with tons of potential to redeem the world and re-align it with His purposes and plans? Or do you want them to be reminded of how messed up people are (which they already know anyway) and how Jesus had to die cause you are so messed up (we will talk about this in a later post) and they should feel really bad and convicted and change it up and fly right or else there will be hell to pay - for real?

Beginning at the Beginning is really important.  And the implications are vast.  But this is already long enough. So, I would just conclude with some questions for us to ponder.

In your marriage, what story are you telling your spouse? Do you remind them of what they aren't, or do you celebrate what they are?

I would say the same for your kids...

When you try to "convince" people that God is real and they should follow Him, are you really trying to convince them of how empty, shallow and bad their life is? Or are you telling a compelling story of God's amazing agenda for this world and how we can partner with Him in the process?

Tell a better story!  Begin in the beginning.