Leaders on ladders: the power of story in John’s Gospel (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ecclesial Leaders as Storytellers
There are many listeners like me who want to listen to ecclesial leaders sharing God's Word like Jesus did-through the telling of stories in a captivating manner touching the hearts and minds of listeners. Sermons are not merely for conveying interesting Biblical facts and truths to people. This chapter focuses on the role of ecclesial leaders as storytellers using narrative preaching as a communication tool to narrate the promise of God to His community of children as set in the Scriptures. One way those ecclesial leaders can tell such stories are through the practice of narrative preaching. The Bible itself, when taken as a whole, can be described as a story made up of many smaller stories and narratives, and despite its many books, this story is built on one main plot, which is the love of God and the message that Jesus is the Story. God's narrative style is seen throughout the life of Jesus in the New Testament and through the stories if the various prophets and Kings in the Old Testament. Jesus has illustrated to us through His own narrative style that once ecclesial leaders have mastered the skill of storytelling and the practice of narrative preaching, that it can be used as one of the greatest communication tools to connect to the hearts of people and change their thinking. For this reason, and for the sake of this chapter, the ecclesial leader as narrative preacher will be referred to as the storyteller in the narrative sermon.
Preaching the Gospel of John. Proclaiming the Living Word. By Lamar Williamson Jr
The Heythrop Journal, 2007
The goal of this paper is developing a study guide that helps a diverse group of students, found in the local congregation, to become apprentices of Jesus by encountering John's Gospel. The thesis was tested at Discover Church, a congregation located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which has experienced rapid urbanization with an influx of people from different ethnic backgrounds. This dramatic change has brought a distinct mix to the congregation. The study argues that many Christians struggle with a lack of biblical knowledge. This insecurity has significantly impacted Discover Church. It has fostered a culture of clericalism, where the laity believes that only clergy are qualified to read and teach Scripture, an inability by laity to articulate their faith, as well as robbing Christians of the full witness of Scripture. The Strands of John study is designed to counter this biblical ignorance. The foundation for Strands of John is formed by three principles: first, the unique nature of the Gospel of John; second, an affirmation of the Lutheran understanding of Scripture and "the Priesthood of the Baptized;" finally, classical practices of reading Scripture as excellent tools for the believer to interact with the Bible. Three goals were built on this foundation: help the student to encounter the heart of the Gospel of John, introduce the student to the inductive Bible study method, and familiarize the student with spiritual practices used in reading the Bible. Strands of John was originally taught to over seventy-five students. While not a panacea to solve biblical illiteracy, it does take an important step to making the Bible accessible to the laity.
The Gospel of John: A Universalistic Reading
The Gospel of John: A Universalistic Reading, 2020
A Brief Review of the Book The Fourth Gospel functions as a literary masterpiece that facilitates a narrative beyond the time and space aspects. The Gospel's linguistic phenomena and stylistic aspects are peculiar as they attune the attention of the reader toward a dramatic and ideological world of its own. The connection between the narrator and the historical/implied/contemporary reader is established from an eternal vantage point as the narrator directs the reader toward atemporal and universal realities. The author as a classicist encompasses the socio-cultural and religio-political realities of the Greco-Roman world, incorporates the hope of the Jewish society, foregrounds the contextual realities and the struggles of the Johannine community, and fulfils the various demands and requirements of the future generations of readers and believers. The peculiar linguistic and idiosyncratic techniques of the narrator have the power to absorb the attention of the reader not only from a 'there and then' and 'here and now' senses but also from an 'everywhere and ever' perspective. In that sense, the Fourth Gospel functions as a gnomic and universalistic artistry. John's Gospel can be considered as a commentary in its own terms. The extended episodes of the Fourth Gospel, different from the Synoptic style of pericopes, foreground the ideas of the author through the exchange and episode developments. The Logos-Christology and the poetic demonstration of the coming of Jesus (1:1-18) reveal its universalistic aspects. John interprets history in the form of a quasi-poem, an interpretation, or ultimately a commentary in its own way. This style of the Gospel is designed with a gnomic perspective. The Fourth Gospel's 'vertical' and 'realizing' eschatology and the 'ever-continuing' present aspect support its gnomic and universalistic development. The Gospel's pre-existent Christology and the emphasis on life/eternal life take the reader's attention toward the everlasting perspective. The maxims like the "I AM Sayings" and the symbolic presentation of the Signs attune the attention of the reader toward the universal significance of the Gospel. The narrator and the implied reader dynamism of the text enable the modern reader to understand the narrative world of the gospel. The contemporary readers find the unique dynamism of the text as an interpretative means to get engaged with the text. The purpose statement of the Gospel (20:30-31; cf. 21:25) makes the implied reader aware of the logic behind all the events and the coherence of the discourses units. The narrator is fully concerned to inspire readers in/with the text to believe/continue to believe in Jesus that he is the Messiah and the Son of God and that through believing they may receive 'eternal life' and be saved. Thus from the soteriological point of view, the Gospel promises eternal guarantee and protection. The dialogues as active voice and direct speech units influence the reader to be a 'believer' and to be saved. This feature of the dialogue enables it to be a performative act in itself. It provides pleasure to the reader and helps her/him to be persuaded, provoked and transformed. Thus the text works with all the characteristic features of rhetoric. The text, in that sense, cannot be reckoned as a 'passive' treatise rather as an 'active' counterpart to the modern reader. It happens only when the narrator takes extra effort to tell the story dramatically through the means of showing and telling (cf. Quintilian, Inst
Four Voices, Two Vistas, One Person: Why Understanding the Narrative Shape of the Gospel Matters
Pro Rege, 2015
Sound bites work because they strikingly capture a pithy thought, in a way that the average person can readily remember. For this reason-and in spite of their modern-media-attuned name-"sound bites" are not a new phenomenon. The ancients called them aphorisms, or "delimitations"-not quite as sparkling, but it meant what it said: an original, laconic saying that expressed something definitively. Your average first-century urbanite knew scores of them: "marry well," "pick your time," "a cost to every commitment," "nothing to excess." Jesus was surely not the first to speak in such ways. But he was among the most adept: "love your neighbor," "Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath," "blessed are the poor in spirit," "I have come not to call the righteous but sinners," and the justly famous "golden rule": "do to others what you would have them do to you." Self-important intellectuals might sometimes be tempted to smile at such rustic simplicity. But if one wants to change the world, one must engage with the mass of humanity. Given the gospel's unrivalled influence on human history, Jesus clearly knew what he was doing. Unsurprisingly, many Christians' knowledge of Jesus consists largely of a scattering of these isolated sayings, along with a few stand-out stories (e.g. casting out demons, healings, multiplication of the loaves and fish, calming the storm, his encounters with Zacchaeus and the woman caught in adultery, and his final action in the Temple), all of which are bracketed by the annually celebrated events of Christmas and Easter. But as a moment's reflection reminds us, these sayings and actions do not just float about in some kind of Christian ether. They are drawn from the Gospels, which, as is now increasingly recognized, are carefully constructed and highly textured narratives. It is when we examine the four Gospels more closely that interesting questions begin to emerge. As most of us know, the first three-Matthew,
Religious Studies Review, 2012
Jerusalem to Rome is marked by a series of turf battles between the apostles and representatives of Hellenistic religious practices." Whether a clash with sorcerers at Samaria (Acts 8) or Paphos (Acts 13), pagan prophets at Philippi (Acts 16), or powerful brokers of the cult of Artemis at Ephesus (Acts 19), early Christian messengers required both familiarity with and necessary tools for confrontation with these varied beliefs and practices. Such narratives also echo countless pastoral warnings by Peter, John, and Paul concerning the former lives of believers who "had turned from idols to serve. .. God" (1 Thess. 1:9). Johnson exhibits disappointment with a long-standing scholarly tradition that gives minimal attention to the role of first century "pagan" religion or adheres to old and artificial structures that merely regionalize Judaism and Greco-Roman culture. To counter, Johnson identifies four pervasive religious domains. Seekers typically pursue salvation for personal benefits, moral transformation, transcendent experience, and/or societal stabilization. Each "type" shares various fundamental quests, yet interacts and competes with core dynamics of Christianity. This outstanding volume should become the standard for customary graduate/seminary courses on NT backgrounds. (Johnson includes over one hundred pages of footnotes filled with invaluable primary sources.) Finally, Johnson suggests proponents of contemporary Christian advancement require similar breadth for engagement of present-day religions; perhaps a more careful reading of the NT will encourage readers to better understand and wrestle with the complexities of our contemporary mosaic of global religions.