Church as Counter-Narrative

The body of Christ is a people apart.  We are a community of the Word.  Having recognized the Scriptures as God’s word and Christ as savior and pinnacle of revelation, we are now called and empowered to live differently.  The church has not only been given a unique narrative about how the world works in the gospel…the church has been called to live out that narrative and to be God’s story told to a watching world.

The church is a counter-narrative simply because the church knows the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God to bring salvation, and the sort of life that God’s rule affords.  In Philippians, Paul illustrates well at least two virtues, unity and self-sacrifice, that the church is called to exhibit because God stands behind his people.  Paul highlights the unity of the Philippians and the community’s solidarity with him in the gospel (Phil 1:3-6), highlighting the manner in which God used his imprisonment (1:12-26), highlighting Epaphroditus’ sacrifice (2:25-30), and, ultimately, demonstrating the manner in which Christ gave himself up to the cross for the Glory of God (2:1-11).  Such action are nonsensical without the gospel.  Without God standing behind these actions, they are hollow, foolish, and unnecessary.

Paul tells a theological tale in Philippians rooted in the faithfulness of God.  That tale calls the Philippians and, by extension, all those who are part of the body of Christ, to live out the story of the Gospel by living differently from the world because “our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…”.

The church is a counter-narrative not because we are more moral than the world, not because we have somehow transcended the boundaries of what it means to be human, not because we are “holier than thou,” but because we have received grace.  Our minds have been enlightened by the gospel and we recognize our need for Christ.  We also recognize that, despite our need, God is sufficient.  We do not need to meet our needs in this life ourselves.  God provides and will provide despite our suffering.  He calls us to live in light of His reality.

We are not driven by the same desires as the culture around us.  We know that God meets our needs.  He stands behind us as we live our lives from him.  Because we know who he is, we can live differently than those who do not know him.  The story we tell is a different story because we recognize that God is a member of our community.

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