Power of Story
As this note is received by our community today, I am finishing up some preparation for an evening of dialogue with area young adults on the nature of Biblical love. After all, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Our culture claims that all love is love; is that really true?
Along with so many other "stories" our culture tells, the current story being told regarding love, sexuality and relationships is having disastrous consequences. Glynn Harrison in his book A Better Story sums up the attitude of so many in our culture:
"For centuries, traditional morality had us – all of us – in its suffocating grip. Year after year the same old rules, chained to the past, heaped shame on ordinary men and women (and boys and girls) whose only crime was being different. ... No more. Change is here. We are breaking free from the shackles of bigotry and removing ourselves from under the dead hand of tradition. Our time has come. A time to be ourselves. A time to be truly who we are. A time to celebrate love wherever we find it. A time for the human spirit to flourish once again. And if you people won’t move out of our way, we are going to push you out of our way." It is a story that has thrived in the vital land of individualism, fertilized by loneliness and a desperate need for connection. But it is ultimately a story that cannot deliver despite its claims. One needs only to be honest with what we see around us to realize that this story is bankrupt.
Which brings us to the Christian story, a story from the heart of the Creator God contained in his revelatory blueprint for humanity. This story is full of beauty and coherence, and is remarkably plausible despite the many claims to the contrary. Unfortunately, Christians find themselves on their heels in the battle of narratives. Again, Harrison is helpful, both in capturing the essence of this more beautiful story and in reminding us to have confidence that the story that the Gospel tells is really good news!
"It’s time to recover our confidence that the Christian vision for sex, marriage and family also conveys social and relational goods that can bring blessing and flourishing to all. We need to be ready to share what we ourselves have found to be true for the sake of children in need, because a culture of strong marriages brings stability to their emotional and psychological development, alleviates poverty and enhances educational outcomes, and to do so for the sake of the poor more generally too, because it is they who bear the brunt of the collapse of marriage. We do it for the sake of women, because the Christian vision of men who love their wives as Christ loves the church condemns outright the abuses of psychological control and aggression, and for the sake of young men, because in the Christian vision their days of being Peter Pan are numbered. And we need to share what we have found, for the sake of all whose lives have been hollowed out by pornography, promiscuity, trafficking, and by the fruitless pursuit of self-fulfilment. We have been given life for the world and we cannot keep it to ourselves."
The idea of sharing a story is certainly in line with the Sermon on the Mount. Last week Pastor Addison expounded for us the importance of being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). This week we look at how Christ is the denouement of the story that began in the Old Testament and is now being played out throughout the cosmos (Matthew 5:17-20). And in case you're wondering, the story is truly good news!
Let's keep telling the story together!