Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Chapter 21: Becoming People of the Story

T HE STORY IS God’s unfolding drama, where the Father is the Author, Jesus is the Champion, and the Holy Spirit is the Narrator, told through the Bible, the Great Tradition, and Church history. God invites all people to join this ancient drama, and all who respond by faith are grafted into this identity. They become People of the Story . Christians have received this identity from the Church, who received it from the apostles, who received it from Jesus, who received it from the Father. Such identity spells out what Christians believe, who they are, where they came from, where they are going, and what they should do. A Branch of the Tree Instead of a collection of individuals, gathering around a common philosophy, a church must understand itself like a branch of a tree that grows up from its Sacred Roots . This is why Sacred Roots is symbolized by a tree (see Figure 19).

Figure 19: Sacred Roots

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