What Story Are You In? - Jared Mackey from Denver Institute on Vimeo.
All of us at some point believe the idea that we are both writing a story and in a story. Walter Brueggermann explored this concept in his essay Counterscript.
"Everybody has a script. People live their lives by a script that is often explicit but often implicit. That script may be one of the great meta-narratives created by Karl Marx or Adam Smith or it may be an unrecognized tribal mantra like, 'My dad always said...' The practice of the script evokes a self, yields a sense of purpose and provides security..."
As Brueggermann suggests, the script promises to make us safe and happy...but in many ways, the script has failed. If we are honest with ourselves, the script many of us have followed did not produce in us what we were hoping it would at the beginning of the sales pitch. As you watch this video from Jared Mackey (TNL Church) ask yourself:
As Christians, how do we respond when life's script disappoints us?
How can the gospel message offer the strength and joy we seek?
How can the stories we tell through marketing and media "Offer an alternative script rooted in the Bible and enacted in the tradition of the Church"?
Jeff Haanen is a writer and entrepreneur. He founded Denver Institute for Faith & Work, a community of conveners, teachers and learners offering experiences and educational resources on the gospel, work, and community renewal. He is the author of An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God’s Purpose for the Next Season of Life and an upcoming two-book series on spiritual formation, vocation, and the working class for Intervarsity Press. He lives with his wife and four daughters in Denver and attends Wellspring Church in Englewood, Colorado.
