I ran across some very interesting comments on Facebook today – one by Wes Mills (ACOP President) and a reply to his thoughts by Glen Peder
Wes Mills (posted March 14, 2022)
The Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich is credited with saying that “Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the future so that we can take the next step…if you want to change a society then you have to tell an alternative story.”
The gospel is the alternative story our society desperately needs to hear and see.
Glen Peder (reply March 15, 2022)
Wes, Illich is right, we need a metanarrative of unusual proportions.
Through the ages, many have tried to create an alternate metanarrative for humanity, but all have failed. So we have seen the rise of post-modern anti-narratives, the uncoupling of story from truth that fractures and reduces all narratives to the insignificance of relativism.
Sadly, many in the Christian church today have become deeply infected by this postmodernity. I see it all over. I have myself felt its attraction. Yet, many in the world have begun to cry out for a true narrative. They have seen the product of relativism and come to realize its destructive power. They want truth.
If “the Gospel is the alternative story our society desperately needs to hear and see,” the church first needs to learn it, believe it, and put it into practice. Only when we apprehend this narrative will we have a story to tell the world.