Tell Your Story

I talk about this quite a bit (here, for example), but I don’t think it can be emphasized enough.  It’s very difficult to get people to listen to your theology, your theories about how God works.  It’s much easier to get them to listen–and understand–when they hear your story.

Psalm 107 from this week’s lectionary (Lent 4B) emphasizes this in verse 2.  In the KJV we have “let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”  The TNIV makes it sound more direct:

Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story–

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south.  — Psalm 107:2-3 (TNIV)

This was my weakness during my theological education.  Note I did not call it a weakness of the theological training. It was my weakness during that training.

I was very strong academically.  I learned lots.  I enjoyed absorbing the knowledge.  But two factors worked against this knowledge being useful.  First, I was not involved in the story of faith myself.  While taking my MA in Religion, and learning so much about the backgrounds of the Bible and the ancient near east, I attended church only three times.  I was not part of the community.  Second, I was in no way interested in sharing my own story with others.  I wanted to share my knowledge, but not my experience.

Many people see problems in seminaries today and claim that young people come back from seminary much less spiritual, much less on fire than when they left.  I can’t back up that view personally.  While I see these young folks come back somewhat changed, I don’t see the same degree of loss.  But to the extent that I do see the problem, it seems to me that they have gotten into the battle between the value of knowledge and experience, of personal understanding versus personal contact and connection.

If you are one of the LORD’s redeemed folks, then talk about it.  Talk about your own experience.  Make the theology real through the story of the gospel itself and through the story of the way the gospel has “happened” in your own life.

 

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