The ME in MEtanarrative

Several years ago, a national news network regularly showed a segment on TV called "Everyone Has a Story" (at least, I think that is what it was called).  The news network would randomly choose a city, open the phone book and randomly choose a name, and then interview that person and air their story.  It was an enjoyable feature, sharing stories of everyday Americans.  Every one of us has a story that we'd be happy to tell to whoever asks.  Unfortunately, though, the stories we tell about ourselves are only about us.


A metanarrative can be defined as a view that encompasses the whole world, or a belief system that explains everything in the world.  A metanarrative is basically one story that describes all of reality.  You know, like the Bible.


French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard wrote that he defined postmodernism (a dominant, self-centered worldview) as "incredulity toward metanarratives" (as quoted here).  In other words, there are no overarching, all-encompassing explanations.  That way, instead of believing God's truth about the world, we can all have our personal, contradicting bits of truth and reality, because, ultimately, truth and reality don't exist.  We live for pleasure, comfort, entertainment, and the pursuit of happiness.  Sounds fun, right?


Those who hold such views might have a difficult time understanding the Pilgrims.


In 1620, 102 English Christians sailed for America on the Mayflower.  Because of their unpopular religious views, they had been persecuted in England.  They had high hopes for their time in America, but they also realized the gravity of their decision.  After two months aboard a very crowded ship, the Pilgrims finally reached America in November of 1620.  They were now safe from stormy seas and no longer had to live in cramped quarters below deck.  Unfortunately, their troubles were far from over.


That winter, half of the Pilgrims died.  The Mayflower stayed in the harbor through the winter, providing shelter for those who needed it.  How the Pilgrims must have despaired as they found themselves without human help in a foreign, wintry land while their friends and family members were succumbing one by one to disease.  When spring finally came and the spread of the disease was halted, the Mayflower left the shores of America to return home.  This was the Pilgrims' chance to retreat to the safety and comfort of Europe!  Yet not one Pilgrim returned.


They, of all people, knew of the danger.  They felt the sting of loss.  They knew that the coming months would be full of toil, hardship, and more death.  Yet they stood fast.


As Winston Churchill once wisely said, "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."  Sometimes we don't like the truth, but it is still the truth.  And the truth is, there is only one metanarrative - and we didn't write it.  The Bible informs us that God had a plan before time began.  We weren't around for consultation.


The Pilgrims pursued their goal - not for individual accomplishment, but for the advancement of the Christian faith.  Not for comfort, but for the betterment of the future generations who would come behind them.  Not for the pursuit of happiness, but for the glory of God.  They understood that God had a metanarrative, and was weaving their stories for His glory.  This knowledge - and God's grace - sustained them through times and trials of disease, danger, and death.


The news network had it right - we all have a story.  Ultimately, however, our stories are not about us, but about how God has orchestrated our lives into His great story.  The big story of God gives our little stories meaning.  Sometimes we hear stories that didn't end like we would have written them.  What about the Pilgrims who perished that first, cold winter?  What was the purpose?  Why would God lead them on such a long journey only to have them die when they get there?  When we realize that God has a plan bigger  than our few years on earth, we can understand that, as hard as it may be for our earthly eyes to see, there is a plan, and God is in charge.

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The Warrior Life

"The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose his side."

G.K. Chesterton

As a culture, we don't seem to like choosing sides.  "It's not that simple," many contend about moral and ethical situations.  "It's not black and white."  In other words, "Do what feels right to you; there isn't a right way and a wrong way.  This life is meant for us to get along, take it easy, and have fun - stop stressing over such divisive issues."

That sounds easy enough.

In reality, Christians have never been called to an easy life.  In fact, Jesus promised the opposite: "'I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world'" (John 16:33, emphasis added).

Christ never called us to take the easy way out.  Christians are called to battle.  The New Testament tells us what armor to wear (Ephesians 6:10-18) as we "wage war" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and to not let anyone take us captive (Colossians 2:8).  Sounds like the military.

"China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women … The stamp of men and women we need is such as will put Jesus, China, [and] souls first and foremost in everything and at every time—even life itself must be secondary."

Hudson Taylor

Once Hudson Taylor knew that God had called him to be a missionary to China, he immediately took measures to prepare.  To toughen himself up for a harder physical life, he began exercising outdoors and sleeping on a hard mattress instead of a feather bed.  In those days, there were no Mandarin Chinese textbooks or teachers available to the aspiring missionary.  Instead, Taylor found a copy of the Gospel of Luke in Mandarin Chinese and laboriously taught himself Chinese.  Convinced that he couldn't be a soulwinner in China if he wasn't one in England, Taylor exerted his efforts to preach to Englanders on a regular basis.  Never a restful moment.

Once in China, Taylor threw himself into his work.  Refusing to accept the status quo of other missionaries in China, Taylor challenged conventional practices and began wearing traditional Chinese dress.  Why cling to his English lifestyle when he was intent on reaching China for Christ?  Taylor also began the gargantuan task of translating the Bible into Chinese.  Never a restful moment.

Even when Taylor had to return to England for medical reasons, he continued to labor for China.  There Hudson spent his time writing a book, learning midwifery skills, recruiting missionaries, and continuing to translate the Bible into Chinese.  Never a restful moment.

Taylor knew that life is short.  Never one for living the way of the common culture, Taylor challenged the accepted forms of mission work, blazing new trails for those who would follow in his steps.  There was no time for entertainment or relaxation for Taylor.  All of his waking hours were spent in preparing for and accomplishing his God-given purpose.

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed," Taylor asserted.  For Taylor it was black and white.  Instead of being swept along in the cultural sea of mediocrity and self-pleasure, Taylor swam against the currents that advocated the easy life.

Hudson Taylor was at war.

"No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him" (2 Timothy 2:4).

Hudson Taylor knew that the Christian life is the warrior life.  We have a cause, a Commander, and a calling.  Time is short.  So much is at stake!

"Everywhere there is the persistent and insane attempt to obtain pleasure without paying for it....'Let us have the pleasure of conquerors without the pains of soldiers; let us sit on sofas and be a hardy race.' ...All around us is the city of small sins, abounding in backways and retreats, but surely, sooner or later, the towering flame will rise from the harbor announcing that the reign of the cowards is over and a man is burning his ships."

G.K. Chesterton

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Am I a Soldier of the Cross?

by Isaac Watts

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith’s discerning eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.

The Center

"As Christians, we profess, not only to believe and look for, but to love and long for, the appearing of Christ, and to act in our whole conversation with a regard to it. The second coming of Christ is the centre in which all the lines of our religion meet, and to which the whole of the divine life hath a constant reference and tendency."

Matthew Henry

The Hot Pink Turtle

"Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?' And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" And he said, "I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God'" (Luke 12:13-21, emphasis added).

The rich man placed all his faith in his possessions and hoped for more earthly riches; all he lived for was relaxation and comfort.  Isn't there more to life than this?  God calls us to more than chasing material prosperity, loving earthly comforts, and seeking popular admiration.  Jesus never offered a life of material wealth.  Instead, He commanded us, "'Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also'" (Matthew 6:19-21, emphasis added).  This life is only a shadow of what is to come for those who have believed and repented and are on their way to heaven.

From a heavenly perspective, the very idea of becoming consumed with earthly things is ludicrous.  We'll be in heaven for billions of millennia - and we're here less than one hundred years.  What an astronomical difference!  As we spend our eternity rejoicing and praising God, we'll look back at our time on earth and think of our temporal pleasures and enjoyments, "That was so trivial."  Why spend this life hungering after the world's treasures when we're going to eternal life full of everlasting joy, living in God's presence?

The other day as I was sorting through some of my earthly possessions, I came across a hair clip I used when I was younger.  Actually, I found several hair clips, but this one in particular stood out.  It was a hot pink turtle.  I'm not really sure why I wore a hot pink turtle hair clip, but I did.  And it was important to me then.  It's so easy to be tied up in earthly pleasures, fleeting joys, and little trinkets that aren't nearly as significant as they seem to be.  But not long from now, as we're living in eternity, we'll ask ourselves, "Did I really think that was important?"

Thursday's Thought