Telling the Story

What goes into the standard "story"? Well, you have main characters, of course. And you have a storyline, of course. That is, the story has a beginning and an end and a point, a purpose, a reason for being told. There is, inherent in all good stories, another component -- crisis.

What story worth reading, seeing, or hearing have you ever encountered that didn't have a crisis? There is the initial set up with introduction of characters and circumstances. There is the build up where we learn to identify and love the protagonist(s) or despise the antagonist(s). And then, almost without exception, you encounter a crisis. Something goes wrong. Sometimes very wrong. It looks bad for our hero. Will he make it? Will she survive? How can they get through this? And then you have the denouement, the outcome, the resolution of plot intricacies and dramatic conditions. The crisis is resolved and, true or not, stated or not, our main characters can live happily ever after.

We are, as Christians, commanded to "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15). As the hymn says, "We've a story to tell to the nations." We do it in the way we live. We do it in our daily interactions and conversations. And we do it quite clearly in our Sunday worship. Are we including the story we're supposed to include?

Often in churches I've seen and heard we don't want to tell the story. We want to feel that rush of "Ah, it is resolved!" without hearing what was resolved. We want the "happily ever after" feeling without a noting the reason that it was ever in question. Our worship is often sadly lacking in "bad news" in our rush to share the "good news".

Good news is not good news on its own. It is only good in contrast to something else. Telling you, "Good news, you lost your left hand" would make no sense on its own. "That's not good news! What's wrong with you?" It would only make sense if, for instance, the other three people in the party lost both hands. Now there is a comparison point, a contrast. One of my favorite examples is the fellow who was asked to housesit while his friends went on a trip. He picks them up from the airport on their return and tells them, "Good news! Your house is still standing!" "Ummm, well, it should be standing, shouldn't it? How is that good news?" "Oh, I forgot to tell you, there was a fire and the neighborhood burned down, but your house wasn't touched. Your house is still standing." See, in contrast to the loss, the ambivalent news becomes good news.

When we fail, on Sunday morning, to share the bad news in our worship and our preaching, we are not telling the story. We are not properly presenting the good news. We are not sharing the gospel. Only in contrast to the depths of our depravity and the horror of sin and God's righteous wrath can we find good news in salvation. "Good news! You can be right with God!!" "Ummm, well, why shouldn't I be?" See? Without the bad news, the good news doesn't mean much. And in our living, sharing, and worship, we need to be including the whole story in order to properly "proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."