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

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3 thoughts on “Christian Practice, The End: Story”

  1. Richard,

    "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."

    Is the Christian background story a necessary condition for your list? Could an atheist make discerning choices with a 'rational secular' story? Basically, can a Christian and an atheist, giving different warrants, arrive at the same practices - obviously except for the rituals?

    Your entire BLOG is extremely thought provoking.

    Friend Paul

  2. I do think that people can arrive at a similar list. In fact, they have done so. I've cited Gandhi repeatedly in these posts and have borrowed terms (e.g., ahimsa) from other religious traditions to tacitly signal that point. In the end, I think it is only the mythos, and not the ethos, that makes any virtue-list religiously distinctive.

    (So, why bother with mythos at all? That is a very interesting point. I've decided to add one more potentially controversial entry to this series that hits on that issue...)

    In the end, the thing I like about focusing on practice is that its a big tent, lots of people can get together.

  3. I love this. Yes, we need story. We need it more than we need the practices...it frames and informs them and gives them a reason to be. I've so enjoyed hearing you teach in Sojourners class, and reading your blog. I'm glad we share the same story, Dr. Beck. Blessings to you.

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