The Story

Life

The good life. It's what we want to live… fulfilled, satisfied, enjoying life to the utmost. It's the universal human desire - we want to enjoy our short lives on this earth. Even those who believe in life-after-death want to have the good life in the here-and-now.

But how do you know what is the best life? What constitutes a truly fulfilling life? Clearly we can't decide simply based on what makes us feel good. Too much of what makes me feel good comes at the expense of those around us, and while it may be enjoyed for a time, deep down we know it can't be that. And at the same time it can't be just doing what is best for the majority, for throughout history some of the greatest moral advancements have come when we've started doing what was best for the minority (think Martin Luther King, Jr.).

And the overwhelming reality is that almost everyone has their own ideas and opinions as to what this satisfied life ought to be. How do we choose?

May I tell you a story? It is the story of the truly fulfilling life. It's the story of the way to be human that is as new as it is ancient.

Listen to the Story. Before you make up your mind about its veracity or its plausibility, before you recall the worn-out, supposed incongruities to the Story - Listen to the Story.

(We can talk later about the inconsistencies, about the way those who claim to be God's people can be so confused, so angry, so judgmental. In fact, in some ways that is a direct result of not listening well to the Story!)

So what does it mean to truly be human? Being human is really about living in the Story of God, people, and place. It begins with the One true God and the only true Reality - His. He is the center, the author and the sustainer of life. Like a master Artist, he created and fashioned the universe as an expression of himself, designed for our enjoyment, and His glory. Being human was originally about life satisfied. It was about God, people, and place. Humankind lived in intimate friendship with the Creator Artist. And then the unthinkable happened. Yes, it's an old story. And yes, it involves a talking serpent and some fruit. You see, the Artist made humans with the capacity that no other creation has - volition, choice, will. And He made us that way for a reason, so we could choose to love him, choose to believe him, choose to live creative life in Him. But this great faculty failed us. It deceived us, and we hid from God's presence.

We've been hiding ever since.

Jesus 

Once the hiding began, the Story began to unravel. Humankind, in our own energy and ability, began to try to feel the way back into the presence of the Artist.

We created religion.

God wanted direct relationship with us, unblemished and continuously maintained. But in our great shame we created a system, numerous systems, to earn our way back into the Story. We have a faint memory of the Story, catch fleeting glimpses of a time when life was the way it was meant to be, and so we try to wiggle and stretch and inch our way back into it. But the way back is barred, sealed tight, and we are forever excluded from the Story.

But then, in a most remarkable way, the Artist himself showed up on the scene. He messed His diapers. He nursed at His mother's breast. He grew up. In every way, the Creator became like the created. His name was Jesus, which means "God saves," and they called him "Emmanuel," which means God with us. He spoke with authority about the Story, calling people back into it, back into unbroken relationship with the God. And then we killed Him. It sounds almost unbelievable, that we would crucify our Maker and Friend. But we did it. And the most unbelievable part of all was that He knew we would. In fact, He let us kill Him because it was, in reality, the only way back into the Story. God had to punish our wickedness. God could not be God without being just. But God also loved us too much to simply destroy us. So he gave up the Artist, offered Him as our substitute, and allowed his Son to endure the punishment due to us – the full weight of God’s wrath against our rebellion, ending in a gruesome, bloody, and humiliating death, hung like a criminal on wooden cross and laid in a cold, dark, and sealed cave.

But he didn’t stay dead.

If he had stayed dead, it would have been nothing more than a great tragedy, a good man dies an unfortunate death, a sign and reminder for us all: good guys still finish last. But the impossible claim of the Story is that in his death he took our punishment, and in his resurrection he destroys death itself! The Artist is the destroyer of death!

And so living the Story suddenly became an option again.

Faith

Jesus described the process of re-entering the Story with two words. Sadly, the words have lost the depth of meaning He intended to convey with them. The first word describes the process of owning up to our part in the failure. It involves bringing our own twisted stories into the light, telling them to Jesus, recognizing where we have disagreed and disregarded the True Story, and leaving our own versions of the story for His Story. The second word describes the process of engaging once again in the True Story. It involves living in the reality of the Story, learning daily to become the kind of people that naturally live the Story. It is the process of becoming again like the Artist himself. Repentance. Faith. Leaving our own stories, and learning to live in the Story. Fleeing from our religion, our vain attempts to squirm our way back into the relationship with the Artist, and embracing the free gift, the new opportunity, the new way to be human.

Community 

So the Story re-opens, and humanity is invited back in. And while we are invited back in as individuals, we can really only live the Story rightly in partnership with one another, learning together about the Story and how to embrace it freely and continuously. Jesus calls us into relationship with Him together.

Interested in exploring the Story with us? We certainly don't have it all figured out, and we welcome your inquiring heart. Come be a part of our Truth seeking, a part of our conversation, and a part of our journey.