are you dreaming?

A People of Story

One of my favorite movies as a teenager was Inception. The premise of the film was that there were dreams within dreams, worlds within worlds; ultimately, one couldn’t trust that the reality around them was real and true.

Throughout the story, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character pursues one mission above all else: returning home to his kids. But when he returns home to his kids, successfully enduring all the trials that faced him, he can’t be sure that his present reality is real or a dream-a figment of his desperate imagination or a true homecoming. In the world of Inception, as tangible as it seems, dreaming is not reality; and distinguishing between dreams and reality is vital.

There is something beautifully unique about humanity among all of creation in that we make and tell stories of the world around us. But we don’t just make stories, we identify the stories of reality (stories of the ‘what-is’ truth of the world surround us). These kinds of stories are used to guide our lives and how we see the world.

Maybe you don’t agree that we view the world through story. Just google narrative therapy. This is a thing trust me.

But beyond this general feature of humanity, Christians are uniquely positioned as people of the Story that transcends any other tale, legend, or myth shared by communities. We view the world through the lens of God’s Story: the creation of the world, humanity’s fall and breaking of the world, and God’s progressive, gracious redemption and ultimate glorification of His world.

What should be clear to us as both Christians and as human beings is that story is a powerful element that constructs our worldview. How we see the world is influenced and perhaps powered by the art of storytelling.

We all inherit and pass along these types of stories. We all view the world through some set of stories. (I know there’s a pair of LONG quotes ahead but hang in there with me, I promise they are really good and important!)

“And it’s not just the stories we tell – it’s the ones we listen to, it’s the ones we value, it’s the ones we engage with and spend time interpreting. Through stories we come to understand the expectations and norms of others around us – our family, community, church, and larger culture. Indeed, stories define those expectations and norms – and signal to us whether our lives are successful or not (at least according to those doing the telling).” ¹

Much of how we view the world and decide how to live is based on the kinds of stories we have attached to our worldview. And according to James K. Smith, this is accumulation of worldview-stories is largely an unconscious occurence happening behind the scenes.

“Much of our action is not the fruit of conscious deliberation; instead, much of what we do grows out of our passional orientation to the world – affected by all the ways we’ve been primed to perceive the world. In short, our action emerges from how we imagine the world. What we do is driven by who we are, by the kind of person we have become. And that shaping of our character is, to great extent, the effect of stories that have captivated us, that have sunk into our bones – stories that ‘picture’ what we think life is about, what constitutes ‘the good life.’ We live into the stories we’ve absorbed; we become characters in the drama that has captivated us. Thus, much of our action is acting out a kind of script that has unconsciously captured our imaginations. And such stories capture our imagination precisely because narrative trains our emotions, and those emotions actually condition our perception of the world. Here we need to appreciate the recent insights of cognitive science and neuroscience, which then helps us see the importance of the imagination and story. We are not disembodied choice machines who somehow end up in bodies that are embodied in a material milieu. No, we are actors, doers, engaged makers and muddlers in a material world that is our home, our environment, our milieu, our dwelling.”²

Allegiance to THE Story

But whether a person is viewing the world through stories (or ideological/theological/philosophical etc…) that accurately correspond to reality is the big question. For some people, the stories they view the world with have been handcrafted in a custom blend that satisfy their own desires. And perhaps for some of us, more than we want to admit, we have been sold narratives and ideological³ stories to view the world that do not accurately match the character of God and His ultimate Story.

Unfortunately, in the modern landscape of the West, there are culture wars, noisy tribalism, and bitter competition between a plurality of groups all seeking to have their stories and way of viewing the world dominate and control everyone else. As Holberg puts it: “Sin blights not just lives, but landscapes.”⁴ The very way we view the world has been wounded by our sinful tendencies and the ways in which sin communally and systemically permeates the broken world.

Too often I suspect, the kinds of stories we tend to write about our lives or utilize to make sense of the world are grounded on fear and insecurity rather than love for God, care for others, and hope for ultimate redemption and reconciliation. Collectively within different ideological camps and tribes and individually, the stories we tend to hold on to are subtly selfish, arrogant, fear-based sets of narrative interpretations. We all want to view the world with a story that will save us from evil, gives us a means to face the current chaos and messiness of our reality, and find comfort and order.

But these types of narrative worldviews are often held on to and internalized based on the wrong things. We as people do not view ourselves rightly. In one way or another this a widespread problem. We may either view ourselves with an isolating shame that is too timid to draw near to Jesus or with such a positivity that we see ourselves as inherently good and in no need of the Risen Savior.⁵ Not only that, we do not view God rightly as He reveals Himself and do not view people with the eyes of Christ. This leads to all kinds of chaos; because as broken people plagued by sin, we are making stories with the wrong foundations and wrong allegiances.

But there is hope.

The God of all things has entered into time and space, died on the cross for our sins, made a mockery of shame, sin, and death by rising from the grave, and now sent His Spirit, His very own self, to inhabit us individually and collectively.

The Story of redemption brings hope. The Story of Scripture brings clarity. The Story of the Gospel brings new life. And it is by this ultimate Story that Christians are called to navigate their lives and view the reality of the world around them.

Thus, the people of God can stand against the narratives that oppose the Kingdom with an unwavering boldness. The narrative that we follow is grounded in the Story, a message of hope and redemption centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the empowering presence of the Spirit, we can discern the narratives in the modern atmosphere and evaluate these stories that various groups seek to sell to us. And when we identify stories that are idolatrous counterfeits to the Story of our faith, we must oppose them.⁶

For example, as Christians we should not live by the story of individualism⁷ and personal independency. This modern dream tells a tale of a person embarking on a journey completely of their own desires and making. Independent and free from God and all others that might slow them down, the contemporary individual dreams of being able to do whatever they want! The American mantra of indivisible rights and personal freedom is not universally found among all cultures of the world throughout history; yet today we live and die by this code of personal freedom. It fuels so many debates and ideological battles in the public square of politics as well. But the Story of Scripture points us to community, sacrificial service, and ultimate dependency on God in all things!

We also should not ultimately live by the narrative of the American dream. This story of consequential financial success through hard work, satisfying material possession, and the ideal white-picket-fence nuclear family of cliche perfection does not govern our lives. It is a blessed and wonderfully privileged opportunity given to Americans of course! But this opportunity is not all encompassing. The dream is just a dream. It is not the Story of all reality across space and time. The Story of Scripture points to a radical reality of devotion to God, a generous and hospitable sharing of resources with others, and an allegiance to Jesus above even our own families.

OOF.

And neither should we live by the dream of Romanticism and the happily ever after story. Disney (among others) has powerfully illustrated this narrative to us in the last 100 years. But it is a dream, not the supreme Story governing the world around us. In fact if you read the New Testament, the ultimate vision of Jesus’ Kingdom is ultimately flourishing singleness in harmonious, vibrant community rather than an all-consuming, perfectly-blissful romance. (Matthew 17, 1 Corinthians 7, Jesus Himself lived a perfect life as the ultimate image of God…single!)⁸ The ultimate destination and imagery given by the Story of the Bible is not happily-ever-after honeymoon of couples but the eternal gathering of Christ’s Bride being with God Himself; all tribes, tongues, and nations gathering in loving, redeemed communion with their Creator! And even in the here and now, there is a deeper love to be found than the Disney cliche romance. The worship song Weathered expresses this so beautifully:

“More than skin and bone can offer
You’re consistent through and through
Other love’s just imitations
It cannot compare to You
Deeper than infatuation
Than the rush of something new
This is soul inhabitation
You’re in me and I’m in You.”⁷

There are so many other narratives running around society in various cultures. But as people of THE Story we can point to something beyond these ideological dreams floating around the broken world. We look to the Risen Christ, the Indwelling Spirit, the reconciling Father for guidance and hope. By the promises of God, His people face the chaos of the present and the uncertainty of the future with ever-living hope, peace, and comfort.

We recognize our place in a Story that is infinitely larger than us but intimately involves us.

Living Out the Story

The Kingdom is here. The Kingdom will fully arrive soon. The King Himself will be among us. We will be reconciled together in eternal harmony. Until then, we wait as sacrificial ambassadors, messengers of the King, redeemed and adopted children of the Father, and aliens in a strange world that does not completely align with our Heavenly citizenship.

As we collectively write our own stories or utilize narratives to understand the world around us, we must remain loyal to the ultimate Story that drives and guides our destiny as God’s Beloved.

Do we recognize the Story we are living in? Or in the words of T.S. Eliot, are we “distracted from distraction by distraction.”¹⁰ Or perhaps even worse, are we crafting our own preferred narratives that deviate from God’s Story? Have we settled to exist in the echo chambers of communities that are loyal to ideologies, stories, and myths rooted outside of God’s Kingdom and character?

When God’s people are distracted or deceived away from His Story, His Kingdom, His Presence, His character…they are headed towards “spiritual oblivion.” ¹¹

Infinitely better than any story we have created or ideological narrative crafted, we have the Story of God surrounding us in every inch of the world. This Story is backed by the power and might of God, richly full of His faithful promises to a people He has lavished with grace and kindness.

There is no better story.

My hope is that we will recognize and abandon the stories we have held onto that do not harmonize with God’s Story and Kingdom. My hope is that we will wake up from these dreams within dreams that do not match reality. My hope is that we will recognize the real Story all around us.

May the stories we collect, the narratives we allow to guide our lives, the teleological lenses by which we view the world align with this majestic Story given to us. Fully awake and fully alive may we sing:

“I know how the story ends
We will be with You again
You’re my Savior my defense
No more fear in life or death
I know how this story ends.”¹²

1. Jennifer Holberg, Nourishing Narratives: The Power of Story to Shape our Faith, 4. ↩︎
2. James K. Smith, Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works, 31-32. ↩︎
3. I find the following definition of ideology (specifically the kind of ideology that is a competing or rival worldview separate or against Christianity) very helpful in engaging with culture and thinking through the ideas of worldview.
   “So what is an ideology? At this point I shall tip my hand and indicate that I view ideologies as modern manifestations of that ancient phenomenon called idolatry, complete with their own stories of sin and redemption. From the beginning of its narrative, Scripture inveighs against the worship of idols, false gods that human beings have created. Like these biblical idolatries, every ideology is based on taking something out of creation’s totality, raising it above that creation, and making the latter revolve around and serve it. It is further based on the assumption that this idol has the capacity to save us from some real or perceived evil in the world.” David T Koyzis, Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies, 3. ↩︎
4. Jennifer Holberg, Nourishing Narratives: The Power of Story to Shape our Faith,19. ↩︎
5. On the topic of faulty recognition of sin, Martyn Loyd-Jones excellently states: “You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good terms with ourselves. Even if we try to make ourselves feel that we are sinners, we will never do it. There is only one way to know that we are sinners, and that is to have some dim, glimmering conception of God.” Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms, 34. ↩︎
6. This opposition should be done with an sacrificial humility and charity, yet (unlike some extreme postmodern perspectives) also with a confidence and certainty. That is to say, that Christians are to be ambassadors of the Gospel and the Story of God in the world in such a way that reflects and embodies ALL of the character of God, perfectly displayed in Jesus of Nazareth. ↩︎
7. This is excellently addressed in regards to the church community of Acts 2 in the following commentary. Bock writes:
   “Everything about the Gospels and Acts tells us that God’s people are to take the initiative to show community and serve those around them. Much in Western culture drives us to an individualism that undercuts this development of community. We are taught to have things our way and that being able to have our individual needs catered to is how to measure the success of an organization. In our culture, our individual needs and rights come before any needs of the group. The biblical picture is not of what someone receives from the church, although one does receive a great deal, but of what one gives and how one contributes to it. The portrait of the early church in Acts shows that community and the welfare of the group were a priority. This attitude reflected spiritual maturity that allowed the church to grow. In the case of this earliest community, the believers’ preaching was matched by their community, making a powerful testimony for their mission. When the early church said that God cared, the care they gave their own demonstrated this.”
    Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 155. ↩︎
8. I’m not hating on marriage. What a gift it is! But Jesus suggests it will not be around forever. The family of God will be… ↩︎
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRE9c4nRGY ↩︎
10. “Burnt Norton”, Four Quartets. ↩︎
11. Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, 31-33. ↩︎
12. You’ve Already Won (Live) | Shane & Shane – YouTube ↩︎