'To be human is to be part of a story, and to be fully human as God intends is to be part of the true story and to understand its beginning and its ending.'
We all love stories, especially sharing our own stories. I think there is a real desire to be known. To have someone know our full story because if they knew our story they would understand us better. And there is much to be said in helping someone share their story, to walk in their shoes and to really understand them. It is an act of love to walk with someone in their story.
Likewise as believers we spend a good amount of time learning God's story. We read details, piece together themes and try to understand the cosmic story of God. We know this is often difficult because we like certain parts of God's story more than others. Some love the stories of the Old Testament, others the life of Christ and other still look to the future. Yet we know that by understanding it better, our love for God increases all the more.
In my counseling classes we talk about how to not only hear someone's story but also to reinterpret it into God's story. And I wonder if you've ever thought about your story inside the greater story of God? I am not just talking about isolated incidents where we see God working personally or believing that we are some thread in a tapestry. But what about connecting those personal experiences of God into the greater working of God? Expanding our understanding of suffering, faith and relationships so that our life lived out temporally is a reflection of God's eternal story.
To help direct us Newbigin suggests . . .
'Christians are those people whose rationality is shaped by their indwelling of the story of the Bible as it is lived out in contemporary society in the life of the Church.'
The full story is connecting our life story into God's story by our life lived out in the church.
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