Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

Perhaps nothing is as intriguing or attention getting as the phrases, “Once upon a time,” and its close companion, “And they lived happily ever after.” We have heard them before–they are the beginning and end notes of fairy tales or stories, tales that most of us have heard while growing up. Just to hear this can stop us in our tracks, turn our heads, and get us interested in how the story will go, and how it turns out. In a real sense, we are not just rational beings, as Socrates suggested, but rather (and more fundamentally) story-telling beings; we understand ourselves in terms of the stories we cherish, tell, and identify with. The stories that we speak of our nation, our family, and our person determines our self-understandings and allegiances. The characters, themes, plots, and settings of the stories we tell make up our own sense of reality, morality, and values that we embrace and live by. Truly, it is hard to find a person, a family, a clan, a culture, or a nation that does understand itself in terms of their key stories that underlie their philosophies, determine their view of history, and shape their social, cultural, and national commitments. In a sense, we live true to the stories that we tell, believe, and base our lives upon. This ordinary social and interpersonal focus on the role of stories (whether we view them to be fictional or historical) seems to be lost in many ways among many church men and women today. In many of our churches we place the focus on propositional truth, on creeds and statements of faith, on the nice, tight summaries of the stories of the Gospel boiled down to a few ready sentences easily covered and even more easily memorized. While this kind of approach to Christian theology and truth may be useful in some preaching and teaching, especially to the young in the faith, the heart and foundation of the Gospel is rooted in the story of Jesus which is not summarized in a neat outline. Rather, it is best told with passion, joy, and wonder as we highlight the amazing tale of God’s perfect love displayed in his Son’s remarkable humility in the incarnation, deep love demonstrated on the cross of Calvary, and mighty victory shown in his resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand. Indeed, the power and grace of Jesus Christ cannot be experienced in creed and statement alone; it must be told and reenacted in Word and sacrament. It is the nature of Christian faith to tell and retell the story. We are saved by our clinging to and shaping our lives on the “Good News” which has become “glad tidings of great joy,” at least for those who believe. It should be little wonder, then, that we define the nature of Christian mission as telling the story of Jesus to those who need to hear it. Mission has always been about

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