The Fellowship of the Mystery-Part 2

Definition: Metanarrative--a controlling story that informs our worldview and operates at a presupposition and precognitive level.

Is there such a Story in this world that is authentic and that possesses the animating force and informing power to integrate all aspects of reality? If so, there is only space in our hearts, minds and imaginations for one such story. No other smaller story could or should or would actually compete with the way this Story would effortlessly capture and focus our entire being. All that we would be and do would flow out of the subterranean culture that it would create in our deep heart.

As I write this morning, I am aware how few of our teachers in the faith have understood or labored to present the Story of Scripture, that truly is a beautiful and compelling whole--"God's one big God-Story". I've called this series "the fellowship of the mystery" which is a phrase used by the apostle Paul in Ephesians because, in the context of that passage, he is speaking about the metanarrative of Scripture and ... he spoke of it often in his epistles. I don't think the book of Romans can be properly interpreted or applied without first seeing it as the apostolic metanarrative of the entire history of God's intentions and interactions with all humanity.

“All of human life is shaped by some story...If the Bible is fragmented into little bits...then it will be absorbed into our cultural story...Our whole lives will be shaped by our idolatrous cultural story rather than the story of Scripture.” Jason Zahariades

What Jason warns us about above, sadly, has happened to most believers and church communities. I believe this is a main reason for whatever degree of spiritual impotency by which we are plagued. N. T. Wright has said that if we do, however, get this big picture of God's Story deeply seated in our hearts and minds then it will answers these ultimate kinds of questions (which we all share) quite sufficiently: Who am I? Where am I? What is wrong? What is the solution? What time is it?

More to come....