Christian Practice, The End: Story

Up to this point you may have been wondering about what is so "Christian" about my list of Christian practices. When you look at my list...

Ahimsa
Charity
Hospitality
Simplicity
Kenostic Gelassenheit
Justice
Reconciliation
Community

...you might say that most religious people, Christian or not, would agree to this list. What makes the list distinctively Christian? Well, nothing right now. We need to add our final practice:

Story.

On the outside, good deeds look the same. Whether they are motivated by philosophy, familial love, duty, or a Holy Book. Thus, a list of practices, like my list, is going to look like other lists of virtue or ethical behavior. What makes the behavior distinctively Christian is the warrant for the behavior. The reason. The motivation. The rationale.

The story.

What my list finally needs is its mythos to support, inform, and motivate its ethos. Without the background story I could not even begin to construct my list. Where would be my starting point? How would I make discerning choices?

So in the end, it is the story we claim that distinguishes us. And it is the story that gives warrant to our practices. It is the Christian story that makes this list distinctively "Christian."

The Christian story is the story of Jesus. It is called the "gospel" or Good News. It is the story of his birth, life, death, and resurrection and what Christians believe all that signifies. But how do you "practice" story? I see Christians practicing story in four ways:

1. Proclaiming and celebrating the story: Worship
With song and prayer, Christians publicly declare and celebrate the story.

2. Remembering and recommitting to the story: Eucharist
In Eucharist, alternatively called Communion or the Lord's Supper, Christians remember the story and, via their participation, claim the way of Jesus as their own.

3. Claiming and reenacting the story: Baptism
In baptism, Christians claim the story of Jesus by reenacting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

4. Learning and investigating the story: Study
Christianity, like other religions with a Scripture, is a religion of The Book. As a studious religion, Christians read, discuss, debate, and ponder the Bible.

Through these "practices of story," Christians ground their practices in Jesus, in their own distinctive mythos.

Conclusions
So there you have it. I stated some weeks ago that I felt that I was best defined as a practicing Christian. And I told you I would specify what I meant by that. Now you have it. One man's attempt to define the practice of the Christian faith. Hope you have enjoyed the process. Feel free to share this with those around you. Hopefully it will provide stimulus for conversation and reflection.

Reviewing our final list, the practices of Christianity are:

Ahimsa
Charity
Hospitality
Simplicity
Kenostic Gelassenheit
Justice
Reconciliation
Community
Story