NARRATIVES AND TENSION

So, I am back from Egypt and feel like I have so much to process.  One theme that I am currently processing is the idea of narrative.  The more I ponder this concept the more I realize that for as many people there are in the world there are a corresponding number of narratives.  Moreover, each of these narratives deserves a listening ear.

I am currently reading Kenneth Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes.  In Chapter 5 the paradigm of narrative fits perfectly with my experience in Egypt.  In this chapter Bailey compares Luke 6:20-26 with Matthew 5:3-12.  It is apparent that these are the same speech in Jesus’ life—The Sermon on the Mount.  However, the narratives differ substantially between the two.  Matthew’s contains nine “Blessed are…” while Luke begins with four “Blessed are…,” but ends with four “Woe to you…”

If you were to ask me what this means for me I could ponder it for some time.  I find it interesting, though, that much of Christianity wants things black and white.  However, if God wants things to be black and white why does his word contain similar, yet at the same time, very different accounts of what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount?

Of course, my answer is that God does not want us to live so much in black and white models as He wants us to dwell in tension.  I believe that it is in tension that God breaks us down and molds us into who he wants us to become.