The Story And The Shape

What Does It Mean To Be Christian?

I’ve been a Christian my whole life.
But what does that even mean, to be a ‘Christian’? Many people have many different views on what exactly being ‘Christian’ is. Many don’t even like using that term. How does the average believer navigate through the vast sea of opinions, traditions and subcultures to walk out the Christian life with confidence?

Welcome to The Story And The Shape.

“Hold on a second!” I hear you say, “You think everyone else is confused about Christianity except you??” Well no, of course not. I’ll be expressing some of my thoughts here, for sure. But this is about much more than my voice. There are many people way smarter than me who have a tonne of super important stuff to say.

The problem is, a lot of it is just inaccessible to the average believer.

It’s not necessarily physically inaccessible, but seriously, who has the time to read countless books about theology and ecclesiology that you can barely understand? Especially if don’t know what ecclesiology even means! Most of us aren’t academics and scholars and that’s ok. We’re not meant to be.

But that’s where I’m coming in here. I’m a semi-academic. In between the two worlds. Academic enough to understand big complex ideas without getting lost or overwhelmed. Regular enough to communicate those ideas in a way the average person can get. So it’s my job to translate the good stuff and get it where it needs to go. To you.

So what exactly is the Story and the Shape?

One of the main things I’ll be contending is that Christianity is not just a religion, a set of rules, principles to live by or a bunch of doctrines.

We engage it first as a STORY.

A great big crazy story that encompasses all of existence, seen and unseen, big and small, all of the past, present and future, the beginning and the end and everything in between. A Story way more wild and thrilling than the grandest epic adventure we could possibly tell. It leaves The Lord Of The Rings for dead.

And we’re invited to participate. Not just invited, expected to participate. How we participate is the SHAPE that the story takes for us, both individually and collectively. God is the lead character, and we’re the ensemble supporting cast. But contrary to what you may have heard, there aren’t many scenes in this Story that have the main character appearing or acting alone. The supporting cast are vital to the Story.

Does that sound like the Christianity you know? Probably not. Me neither. I’ve had a few tastes, a few tantalising glimpses, but I have this underlying feeling that the Christianity I’ve known is only a shadow of what it could be, what it should be.

Because, to be quite frank, I think we’re largely telling the Story wrong.

Who’s telling this Story?

Sure, depending on what version, a lot of the elements in the story we’re telling are true. But we’re leaving out a huge amount too. The story most of the church in the West is telling, in my opinion, is woefully inadequate. And because the Story is woefully inadequate, the Shape is too.

Like the majority of Christians I agree that the Bible is the greatest authority to tell us what the Story is and what Shape it should take. The problem is, the more I read the Bible the more I find that it tells a different Story than we do. And the more I read the Bible the more I find it often describes a different Shape than the one we subscribe to.

So at it’s heart, this blog is essentially about asking two very important questions: What Story is the Bible telling? And what Shape is the Bible describing? And are we listening?

Ok that’s three questions. You got me.

So where are you at?

Maybe you’ve been sitting in church for years, decades even, and it’s ok. Highs and lows like everything else, but there’s something missing.You don’t even really know what. You just feel like Neo early on in the Matrix – that this isn’t the real world, it’s a false one that’s been pulled over your eyes. There’s some other reality that you can’t quite grasp, “like a splinter in your mind, slowly driving you mad.”

But it’s not really that bad. There’s plenty of good things about it. It’s just ultimately… unsatisfying. So you stay. You keep turning up and plodding along. Like a sad parody of Peter’s response to Jesus in John 6:66-68 you say, “Where else are we gonna go?”

I’ve been there. If that’s you, this blog is for you.

Maybe you just can’t do church anymore. You’re either too bored, disillusioned or you’ve been burned. Maybe all of the above. You’re hurt and confused, or you just don’t care anymore. But simply deconstructing your old faith isn’t satisfying either. You’ve pulled apart a story and a shape that ultimately left you wanting, and you’ve replaced it with… nothing really.

This blog is for you.

Or you’re still trying, just out of the ‘system’. Gathering with a few other believers on a casual, ‘organic’ basis and trying to be more faithful to the Bible’s descriptions of the original church. And it’s kinda working. It’s better than what you’ve had. But it’s still lacking. There’s still something missing. Maybe a lot missing. And you don’t know what.

This blog is for you.

I’ve been there. In fact, that’s where I am now really.

Sometimes it’s a rough road

I’ve had many amazingly good times in my Christian life, but I’ve also found the church to be, at times, an incredibly harsh mistress. Most of the deepest wounds that I carry have come from friendly fire. From my own people.

Some of the wounds are healing and turning into scars, some of them are still raw and quite tender.

In my walk along this road called Christianity I’ve experienced plenty of doubt, confusion, cynicism and pain. At times I’ve felt like I’m drowning and just barely keeping my head above water.

And yet, I’ve encountered and continue to encounter the living God so frequently and so profoundly that I can’t help but be drawn towards Him. I find Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God so compelling that I can’t resist it. Like a tattered moth staring at an enormous light in the distance I can’t look away. All I can do is keep flapping my little brown furry wings with my eyes fixed forward.

And deep down, I can’t help but be filled with hope.

Actually, it’s not even that deep. When I look at Jesus, hope for the world and this thing we call Christianity is the only real posture I can take.

At the moment Christianity in the West is not in the best place overall. There’s a lot of deconstruction and reconstruction needed. And my voice is only one among many that feel called to that task. But if you want to join me on the journey you’re more than welcome. Open invitation. Feel free to ask questions and push back, and also to encourage one another along the way.

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Alright, enough introduction, let’s dive in…