i really resonate with your example. i love how Scot McKnight talks about the gosepl story beginning with Genesis 1. for me, starting there drastically deepens the Story–it puts what Jesus does in incredible context. and that deepens my understanding of his love, which only makes me want to love more.

btw, i’m glad to run across another “Shack”-er!

blessings.

But learning their stories does enable us to love them with the kind of Love we are Loved with—by a God who knows our story and works to invite us into the True Story, a Love Story. For it is as we love others that we invite them into that Story and God’s Love—and that is what our lives are all about.

It reminded me of a day a while back when I came across a group of coworkers in our lunch room pouring over a piece of paper with a look of puzzlement on all three of their faces. It was an email that one of them had received and the subject was, “A Love Story.” The entire email was about Jesus and His death. Interestingly, the whole group was bewildered as none of them were Christian. They were pondering how the death of Jesus could possibly be considered a love story and I could understand why from their perspective. Just looking at the facts of the story, it is hard to understand the draw of Jesus’ story. Without the love, the story is just about a guy who was born, said a lot of great wisdom, and died horribly on a cross because he upset the powers that be. I think that is where our part in the story comes in. If we can’t tell the story through our actions of love and compassion, we aren’t telling the story and it’s a story that needs to be told.

Thanks for reminding us the importance of our part in the beautiful story of Grace.