In the beginning was story: God (the main character) created (plot) the heavens and the earth (setting). Out of that story and its unfolding, the people of God began to articulate various principles, precepts, ideas, and doctrines that summarized the nature of God and God’s purposes with humankind.
First, story; then, systematics. Welcome to narrative theology.
Theologians identify different ways of talking to and about God by making a distinction between “first-order” and “second-order” discourse. Worship is first-order discourse. Hearing or telling biblical narratives, saying prayers, singing liturgies or psalms, reciting creeds, celebrating sacraments—anything that is spoken or sung by the faith community in worship—this is first-order discourse. That’s because encountering the Word is the community’s primary mode and vocation.
By contrast, talking about or reflecting on the Word is second-order discourse. Doctrines, principles, statements of faith (not to be confused with creeds like the Nicene, which, in Kathleen Norris’s words, are “admirably compact forms of storytelling”), theological dissertations, shorthand vocabulary like soteriology and ecclesiology: these come second—not because they aren’t important but because, without the communal narrative at play in worship, doctrines have nothing to talk about. But we need second-order discourse to help us clarify the internal logic of the faith we claim. And occasionally that logic can be made intelligible to outsiders through apologetics.
Unfortunately, too often we boil Christianity down to second-order discourse. We give the impression that faith is a bunch of principles that intellectually must be affirmed rather than a person whose body and way of life must be embraced. Narrative theology is an attempt to reclaim first-order discourse (particularly the narratives of Scripture as enacted in the worshiping community), not only as a valid way of talking to/about God but as the first and most vital mode of faith. Even more, narrative theology claims that first-order encounters with the story of God actually shape our character over time, shape us to become more and more like the story’s main character, Jesus.
So what does any of this have to do with youth ministry? Well, it means that we can’t neglect to engage youth in first-order discourse. This takes place best within the faith community as it gathers for its main worship service, but elements of it can be present at youth events too. Worship, prayer, hearing or telling biblical narratives, testimony, creeds—all constitute a deep well that nurtures the human heart and imagination with meanings that may not be intellectually graspable. After all, the mentally handicapped kid in the front row can encounter Jesus while taking communion even if he can’t string together the words to tell you who Jesus is or what Jesus has done for us. The characters of the young are shaped by the story.
Alongside engaging youth in first-order discourse is the important task of second-order discourse. We can’t neglect to talk with youth about the Bible, about worship, about the key doctrines of faith as a way to help them articulate who God is and what God is up to. Unfortunately, it is far too easy to jump to second-order discourse—say, three points about the parable of the lost son—without letting youth really encounter the story, really pause and wonder about it, perhaps even hear it in the context of the other parables in Luke 15.
If we must extract three points from the parable, let’s at least refrain from saying, “What Jesus really means here is…” Really? We can say this better than he did? Rather, the story is what Jesus really means. The form of narrative carries the point and cannot be divorced from it. Any abstract theologizing about it is second-order stuff.
Keeping these two levels of discourse in creative tension is not easy. Part of the trick of being a youth minister who helps youth engage in first-order discourse involves (1) trusting the Holy Spirit to work through the main worship service of your church; and (2) trusting the Holy Spirit to speak through biblical narratives. No, really: If I hear one more youth worker say that we need to make the Bible “come alive” for our kids, I just might throw something.
Meanwhile, part of the trick of second-order discourse involves (1) doing your biblical and theological homework (no more half-baked, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants lessons that you planned at the stoplight on the way to church); and (2) letting youth do some of the talking.
Not easy. But worth it.
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Narrative theology, like any other genre of theology, is a conversation about God. However, unlike most other conversations about God, narrative theology is a conversation about God in the setting of story.
For some, narrative theology is often understood as a rejection of propositional truths. However, I think narrative theology is best understood as having the essential responsibility of informing our systematic theology. Resulting from our systematic theology, therefore, we understand consistent relationships of theology. These consistent relationships that form help us understand God more profoundly. So, in other words, a full-bodied narrative theology provides the basis for a healthy systematic theology.
If we begin with systematic theology to have conversations about God, which many people do, we neglect to discover God in the setting of story. When we neglect to discover God through the story—the Bible—we can overlook the context and meaning of the micro-stories found within the meta-story. A story without context and meaning is an incoherent, disjointed, and aimless story—a story without a plot. God certainly has a plot! God’s plot is to restore the world to its intended wholeness. When we have no overarching storyline or plot, we have a collection of stories about God, all of which can be abandoned outside the narrative of God.
The narrative of God ought to shape our lives in many ways. Here are a just a few ways in which God’s story shapes or transforms our lives.
· Conversion- The story of God and its redemptive message reveal God’s passionate pursuit to have a whole relationship with all of humanity. The redemptive message is one of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and hope. It is the story of God’s will, way, and work of providing salvation and justice through his Son, Jesus Christ, for all of humanity. God provides life transformation for all those who believe (in word and deed) in the gospel story.
· Conformity- The story of God not only reveals God’s passionate pursuit of a whole relationship with all of humanity; it reveals the intended ways of God. God intends for his people to live lives that reflect the very nature of God. We conform to the intended ways of God when we embrace the image of God in which we’ve been created and live as exact representations of our loving God.
· Community- The story of God reveals God’s passionate pursuit, intended ways, and his special people—the church. The story of God helps faith communities know what it means to be a blessed people who seek to bless others. Christian communities of faith are guided by the story of God and are held to a high responsibility of being of one heart and authentic fellowship.
· Calling- The story of God reveals God’s passionate pursuit of humanity, his intended ways, his special people, and their calling. The story of God shapes the church as it carries out the work of God’s mission, which is to restore the world to its intended wholeness. The story of God provides the purpose of our communities, our conformity, and our conversion in order that the church might join in the restorative activity of God through holy living, embodied practice, and trusted guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Narrative theology is a conversation about God in the setting of a story. That very story is what shapes our lives. We know God in part through his story. As Christians, we know ourselves in whole (imago Dei) through his story of salvation, justice, peace, and hope.
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Let me tell you a story. It was a dark and cloudy day. The rain had stopped falling, but the skies remained gray, and the wind was chilly. Margaret looked outside and suddenly saw the first flowers of the season, pink and blue. She remembered God’s promise in Genesis 8:22: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.”
At its most basic level, narrative theology is doing theology through storytelling. A narrative is a story. People tell their faith stories as opposed to studying or discussing theology from an abstract, philosophical basis. Moreover, narrative theology recognizes that the Bible comprises people’s stories about God from which we learn about God. I began with a story that demonstrates a recognition of God powerfully at work in creation and nature. I suspect that you would have reacted differently if I had simply said, “God is at work in nature and creation” as opposed to, “Let me tell you a story” followed by one. Which grips you more? Which captures your imagination more? Which one leaves greater room for you to enter in and share? What did this true story say to you about God?
Stories are pretty basic to who we are. They have endured over time. They surround us and help to shape us, knowingly and unknowingly. Moreover, stories are basic to who we are as Christians. Where would we be without the witness/stories of God’s people of God at work in the world and their response to God as found in the Scriptures? A question for us, therefore, is how do we create space to tell our faith stories and learn more about how God has been and continues to be at work in the lives of God’s people? How do we enrich and encourage each other and our students through stories or testimonies? Importantly, how do we bring our stories into the light of God’s story in the Bible so that they are more than a collection of interesting stories?
We are all storytellers as we seek to understand and bring order to our world. However, we often create, tell, and repeat stories without thinking about them and what's behind them. As we make space for stories and narrative in our ministries, let us consider the view of the world they present. We need to pause and reflect. When we hear a story, what are we really hearing? When we tell a story, what are we really saying? In both cases, whose view are we getting and sharing, and whose are we not receiving and bringing to the light? Then, as we examine these stories that we hear and share, which often underlie our actions, how can we do so in light of God’s story? How does God’s story of outreaching love shape and alter our stories?
Sadly, I’m not always sure how and if the narrative of God really shapes our lives as God’s people today. At times, it seems as if we are more bent on shaping it than on being shaped by it. Part of this may be that we don’t really know and understand it. One of the challenges in lifting up narratives and stories is that we may stop at narrating what is happening to us and living out of our perspective and how we find God in our stories. However, may we continually in community read and understand God’s narrative as it is mediated through the many stories comprising the Bible, using the tools available to us. As we do this, if we could hold the stories of our day up to its light and see where we’re faithful and unfaithful, we may be shaped by God’s story, and that story may continue to be lived out and renewed in our day.
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