Christanity in six words

I was recently reminded of the story of Hemingway who wrote a six word story - "For Sale: baby shoes, never used." 

I wonder what it would look like to take stories of the Christian faith and distill them into six words. 

So here we go - an open Google Doc for you to write your own six word story. Just to get the ball rolling, I have put a few on the page.

​If you would like to contribute - this link should take you to the open document where you can add your story. 

Hope you have fun!​

Did you get the bonus edition of Jonah with the alternate ending?

Have you ever gotten a "Special Edition DVD"? These collections that have extra features like "alternate endings". During the sermon this week, it dawned upon me that this story in Acts about Paul can read like an "an alternate ending" to the story of Jonah. 

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us. ”When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

While Jonah runs in the opposite direction of his called city, Paul and his band take a "straight course".​

Both cites, Nineveh and Philippi, are not Jewish hubs and have no "place of prayer". Both prophets bring a message to these cities and both wait outside their respected city. 

​While Jonah sits and complains, Peter sits and teaches. While Jonah is in a dry area, Paul is by a river. Both cities have a single convert who then begins to affect the city (the king of Nineveh and Lydia) in major ways. Paul is shown hospitality by Lydia and he stays with her and the story proceeds. Jonah still can be found outside the city walls of Nineveh wondering why God is so Graceful and Forgiving - even to the enemy. 

The connections are too many to name in a little blog post, and it is not my intention to have a full exegetical conversation here, so I trust you can read both stories and make more connections on your own. (I ran across another writer who wonders why Paul never cites Jonah - which I think is a great question!)

The questions that I wonder about:

Notice right away that both Jonah and Paul are told to go to a destination and while Jonah famously runs the other way, Paul takes a '

Is this story of Paul, possibly what the story of Jonah could have been?

RadioLabs, Quantum Leap and Christanity

Recently RadioLabs had this story of two improv comics who ​start off with no script and literally create a fifty minute one act play as they go along. It is amazing, and I wish I could see this happen in real time.

In the interview the comics were asked what happens to them if a story does not materialize? I mean what if they are off one night and they are not able to come up with a story on the spot for a paying crowd? How do you avoid being without a story? 

The response was beautiful and I leave it to you to listen to the actual quote but the essence is this - We don't make the story we only step into a story that is already in progress. We live the story for just a bit then, when our time is up, we let the story continue without us. The characters live on after we see them, the story goes on after our time.​

I could not articulate a better theology.​

​If you are not going to listen to the RadioLabs show, then just think about the show, "Quantum Leap". A show that I only vaguely remember. 

A show about a guy who has the ability/gift/curse/task of being beamed into some situation. He literally takes on the body of another person for a time in order to affect a situation. This really dates before me, but I hope I am right in that summary. ​

You and I only embody this world (aka - God's Story) for a period of time. We are not responsible for creating the story, just responsible to step into the story that is already in progress. We embody the Story for a while then, when we die, the Story lives on.

The improv comics were liberated by the idea that they are not responsible to create a story, but just to find one already in progress. Their liberation allows them to have the freedom and creativity to do the show for fifty minutes even without knowing each step. ​

Contrary to popular thought, Christianity teaches that you and I are not the protagonist of our lives. We are not the creator of stories. We are the stewards of the Story of God. We do not own our individual stories. Everyone's story belongs to God. 

We get the opportunity to live it for a bit of time. ​