The Transforming Story

Most of us who are Christian in America today take our Story for granted, if we give it any thought at all.   The trend over the past thirty+ years has been almost to ignore the Story, to even intentionally refrain from teaching it, as though it might somehow have a negative effect on the spiritual freedom of our children.  We don’t mind telling fables about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or the Three Little Pigs, but we are afraid that telling the Christian Story will be a bad thing?  We forget that the Story has for 2000 years transformed lives in a positive way.

For example, there is a 46 year old man imprisoned in Afghanistan today because he converted to Christianity. According to the legal code of that country, he may be eligible for the death penalty. Why would someone risk everything to follow Jesus?

According to a story reported in the February 5, 2011 issue of the New York Times, Sayed Mussa was “intrigued by Christianity” when two women showed up to dig out his neighbors after a bomb had hit their home killing seven members of their family. When Mr. Mussa asked the women who they were, they told him they were followers of Jesus Christ.

Sometime later, a Christian neighbor gave Mr. Mussa a Bible – the Story - and he was secretly baptized. It later landed him the Kabul Detention Center.

So here’s a human being so “intrigued” by our faith that he is willing to risk his life for it. Now that is intriguing.

When was the last time our own expressions of faith intrigued somebody?

As Jan Edmiston has written, “Christians are, sadly, known by millions of unbelievers as intolerant, judgmental, homophobic, and hypocritical. So many have made Christianity about gaining personal prosperity or hating our neighbors or promoting themselves.”

This is not the message of Jesus and is in fact a re-writing of the Story.  It’s time for us to seize our Story back.  This does not mean that we all have to believe or interpret the Story in the same way but it does mean that we have to know the Story, we have to tell the Story, and we have to teach the Story.  And most of all it means we have to live the Story.

Come and be a part of the Story.  See you in church.