God's Story, Our Story

I continued enrolling in the Transformational Discipleship subject at Morling College while I wait for next year’s graduation ceremony. The theme this semester is “God’s story, Our story.” During prayer time of the first class on 31July, Dr Paul Kang played the song “Oceans”.

https://youtu.be/dy9nwe9_xzw

“Image management: a strategy to make life work. To “look normal,” be accepted, ad fit in like the rest… looking good in appearance, seeking academic achievement, being liked by everyone, responding appropriately to adults, being a “good Christian” – idols useful to make my life work apart from God.”

“Storytelling is the oldest tool of influence in human history. From ancient times, story has been a primary genre in the history of communication. For example, the very first words of Genesis: In the beginning.”[1]

“You can’t tell your story until you know it. And you can’t truly know it without owning your part in writing it. And you won’t write a really glorious story until you’ve wrestled with the Author who has already written long chapters of your life, many of them not to your liking.”[2]

“You are the only one who can live out the story God intended for you. No one else can live your story. Understanding your individual story as a vehicle for spiritual formation energises and frees you personally. You are the only one who can bring God’s glory through your story because it is your unique story. But don’t live your story in isolation. Understanding your story in light of this larger story, the ‘metanarrative’, encourages and gives relevance to corporate spiritual formation.”

“Looking at my life in the context of a story gives meaning and helps me accept more readily the ambiguities and disruptions in life.”

“Many people have never taken the time to step back and intentionally look back at our entire life, seeking to identify an overarching theme or identify lessons that God had continually been trying to teach us.”[3]

“Meaningful frustration is much easier to bear than meaningless frustration.”[4]

“We value individualism in our tradition, but individualistic Christianity is an oxymoron. The fact is we need other human beings and meaningful relationships to grow.”[5]

“One cannot understand the individual part in isolation from the whole because we are intricately connected with others.”[6]

Personally, I find it more useful to learn from the narratives/stories in the bible. It is more helpful for me to learn from the lives of the people than just taking a verse and declaring it like a formula. In fact, I think there is a danger in turning things into formulas. Recently, the author of the 1997 bestseller “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” got divorced and said he is no longer a Christian.

https://religionnews.com/2019/07/26/joshua-harris-and-the-sexual-prosperity-gospel/

Some people, eg. Katelyn Beaty (the author of the article above), have accused him of preaching the “sexual prosperity gospel,” which holds that God will reward premarital chastity with a good Christian spouse, great sex and perpetual marital fulfillment.

“The giveaway of any prosperity teaching is an “if/then” formula: If you do this, then you will get this. If you put a $100 bill in the offering plate, then you will get tenfold back. If you stay chaste now, then you will later be blessed by marriage and children.”

“Like all powerful myths, it offers the illusion of control in an unpredictable world. We are most tempted to adopt prosperity teachings for our greatest areas of vulnerability. This is why health and wealth teachings typically attract the financially struggling, and why the promise of sexual and marital fulfillment attracted so many sexually frustrated Christian teenagers.”

Meanwhile, this song floated into my mind (click subtitles for the English translation, which is not 100% spot on but caught most of the essence):

https://youtu.be/83I_5lq5MwI

I know about God's story through the bible and through some personal life experiences. I know my story as I reflect often on my own life. I think I need to explore further into the concept of "corporate" spiritual formation. I can only do so by becoming more involved in the lives of people around me.

Anyway, here goes the story:

Heritage:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/08/heritage.html

Heroes:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/08/heroes.html

High times, hard times, hand of God:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/09/high-times-hard-times-hand-of-god.html

Community:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/10/community.html

True bride vs false bride:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/10/true-bride-vs-false-bride.html

Visions and recurring motifs: the call of God, and making an impact:
https://dryvonnewang.blogspot.com/2019/10/visions-and-recurring-motifs-call-of.html

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[1] Gail Seidel, "Life Story and Spiritual Formation," in Foundations of Spiritual Formation : A Community Approach to Becoming Like Christ, ed. Paul Pettit(Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2008).  

[2] Dan B. Allender, To Be Told : Know Your Story, Shape Your Life, 1st ed.(Colorado Springs, Colo.: Waterbrook Press, 2005).  

[3] Seidel, "Life Story and Spiritual Formation."

[4] Annette Simmons, The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, ad Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling, (New York: Perseus Books Group, 2002), 37.

[5] Dieter Zander, “The Apprentices,” Leadership 26 (2005): 25.

[6] Seidel, "Life Story and Spiritual Formation."