Memoir theology, story, and being “carriers” of God: Knowing God in a new neighbourhood

One of my favourite quotes I use often when teaching or speaking on missional topics is by missiologist Darrell Guder. He writes that “The centrality of the community to the gospel means that the message is never disembodied.”

In other words:

The word must always become flesh, embodied in the life of the called community. The gospel cannot be captured adequately in propositions, or creeds or theological systems…the gospel dwells in and shapes the people who are called to be its witness. The message is inextricably linked with its messengers. If there is good news in the world, then it is demonstrably good in the way that it is lived out by the community called into its service. The early church in Jerusalem lived in such a way that they had “the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:47).

Darrell Guder, Incarnation and the Church’s Witness

What I love about this quote is the focus on the gospel not being primarily about propositions, but being fleshed out or embodied by individuals that make up the church. In the same way that God did not leave us a set of rules, creeds, theologies or pithy thoughts to know God, but instead became incarnate, we also only fully witness to the gospel as it is fleshed out in our lives. So ultimately, the gospel is told through the story of our lives. The story of God intersects with our story and the world sees the fullness of God through the flawed but beautiful story displayed by the church. The church, to quote Guder again, is a “parable”, telling the story of God.

This means our stories matter. And more than that, we can know God better through the stories of our lives. Our stories can be like “texts” that, when “read”, reveal to us the nature of God. This is often called “memoir theology” and it is a legitimate and dynamic way to know the God who loves to draw close and be revealed in fluid, embodied and grounded ways. As we think through the nature of God though the lens of memoir theology (some might call it Narrative Theology – though they are not exactly the same), we begin to understand God, ourselves and our contexts in a surprising and intimate way.

In her recent book Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way and Presence, Diana Butler Bass uses memoir theology as a framework for her writing. The result is surprising as she moves from one experience of encountering Jesus to another and draws a theology from her story that is strongly grounded in scripture and in the tradition of the Christian faith. She observes that, when men write of their experience of encountering God, it is called theology, but when women write about their experience it is marginalised as “memoir”. So, she suggests that, when women write from a memoir theology framework, they take themselves seriously as being “carriers” of the story and nature of God.

Selah

I moved into an inner-city neighbourhood to plant a church. I had it all sorted. I was going to move in with a team, start a worship service and see that congregation grow. But God seemed to have other plans. As I started to connect with the neighbourhood, my plans to start a church became frustrated. So, I decided to simply turn up to events in the neighbourhood, get to know the community centre and hang out where people found connection. As I did that, I felt God whisper in my ear, “Don’t plant a church, just love these people – or something like that. It made me think about how deeply non-deistic this God is who we follow. In other words, God is not removed from our lives, watching over us “from a distance”. Instead, God works with us and knows us even better than we know ourselves. Psalm 139:1-4 speaks of the nearness of God: “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.”

In all of this, I found God surprising in that God reversed my plans, and this helped me to focus not on missional activities but on building relationships in the community through love. This set the course for what I was to do in the neighbourhood for the next seven years: simply show up to places, meet people and love them. Ultimately a faith community did emerge five years after moving into the neighbourhood, but only after I first learned about joining in with God’s rhythms which always put loving people before activity. This has made me think about the way we often plan our lives so carefully or have very set plans, and then God surprises us with something outside of our framework – which in the end was what we really wanted all along. I think of how God said to Sarai and Abram that they would have a child when they had pushed the thought of having children to the back of their minds – so much so that Sarai laughed at the announcement from God. Sometimes the way God turns my plans upside down makes me smile.

As I connected with people in my community, I realised the importance of place to God. Human beings are always placed people, and to be displaced can be dehumanising. The more I got to know my neighbourhood the more I asked, “God, what are you up to in this community?”, when as a minister in a church I used to ask, “God, what are you up to in this church?” I became more and more convinced that God is not only in the church but is God over creation and place, city and nature. I could discern what God was doing in the neighbourhood where I lived by listening and looking for the signs of hope, life, death and angst. I reflected on the garden of Eden and on the fact that it was not just any garden, but it had a name – Eden. God is interested in the particular. Think about all the place names in Scripture and the images those places conjure up – Jerusalem, Sodom and Gomorrah, Rome, Canaan, Egypt. The names of places are important. Those places indicate a history, connection, memory and tradition. Sometimes they become mythological or symbolic. Similarly, each suburb, town or city where we live carries different characteristics, histories and contexts. The more we are grounded in a place and listen to the Spirit in that context, the more we see God revealed there and can join with God on God’s mission of reconciliation and the flourishing of our society. Each place is different so our thinking about what the church might look like in those places will be varied rather than homogenous.

The interactions I have with people in my neighbourhood have made me think more about the way God speaks through people who might not yet know God and that those people might even be speaking prophetically – a “mission in reverse” of sorts. It has reminded me again of the activity of God outside the four walls of the church. I wonder what we are missing by not listening to those in our culture whom we brand as sitting outside of God’s kingdom. Are we sometimes giving answers to questions that people in our culture are not even asking? What truths can our community speak into the church? This is not unheard of in Scripture as we see many secular prophets. Think of Jonah running away from God and the sailors on the boat who spoke truth to him and ended up worshiping Yahweh by the end of the story. Who are the marginalised people in our communities and how could they be pointing to God’s truth and character? This might even challenge our delineations of who is inside and outside the church. In the small faith community we are a part of in our neighbourhood, we gather with others of different faiths or no faith and we talk about life, faith and spirituality. Sometimes I can hear the voice of God through them. Other times I feel as though I am in “church” and that the Jesus who continually surprises me is very present.

God has challenged me and stretched my faith over the last seven years in a new neighbourhood. I have learned more about God. I have also come to know God in a deeper way. My theology has been shaped by my story with God as lived experience in a particular place as I have come to know a particular community.

What is your story of how God has been revealed to you in your neighbourhood? How do your story and God’s story meet and transform you into a follower of Jesus? How is God calling you to improvise, together with God, the rest of your story?

Rev. Dr Karina Kreminski is co-founder of Neighbourhood Matters and the author of Urban Spirituality (2018). She is a UCA Minister, has a doctorate in missional formation and was a Lecturer in Missional Studies at Morling College.