Narrative Theology

Well they've done it. They've created a label for what we're up to around here.

N a r r a t i v e T h e o l o g y

Turns out what people like Steve Coan and I have been doing has been being done for a few years now. You can google it and find books, blogs, commentaries--even a wikipedia article about it.

Narrative Theology.

In a way, I'm disappointed with the label. In another way, I am comforted, because it seems God is up to something all over the place. And I like that.

Here's a post at a blog by a guy named Ben Sternke that's worth reading. (I added Ben's Blog to my list of "Blogs I Read," off to the right, and that's his picture above.) Ben is a "Ministry Coach" at Heartland Church in Indiana. It will take me hours to get through all this stuff.

Here's a preview of his post:

Christianity is first and foremost a story. It is a history. It is not a set of "timeless truths" or abstract doctrines that we tap into from week to week. It isn't a static system of truth, it's a dynamic story, an unfinished narrative that we live within, and a narrative that we have a part in working out, we help to move the story toward its conclusion.

Sound familiar? Keep reading...

...If we understand Christianity as a story, and read the Bible like the story it is, we realize that the story is going somewhere. And we are part of that story, we have a part to play in moving the story towards its conclusion. We have something to do, and it isn't just to "play nice until Jesus comes," it's to build for the kingdom.

I think he's been stealing our material. (Just kidding.) I hope you enjoy some of what he's written.

--Jon