Just ordered some new books by Girard and Girardian thinkers: Compassion or Apocalypse? A Comprehensible Guide to the Thought of Rene Girard by James Warren; Wolfgang Palaver's Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory; and Feodor Dostoyevsky: Resurrection from the Underground by Rene Girard.
What do I hope to gain from these writers? The same thing I demand of any writer: the opportunity to see life from a different perspective. Even when I read good fiction, I have that expectation. I suspect that's why I like science fiction so much; the genre confronts modern situations in a way that allows me to stand aside, watching and enjoying the ride, and say, "So, that's what's going on!"
It's not everyone's proverbial "cup of tea" to read Girard or those who write from his perspective, so it's up to me to digest and present the material, that is so life-giving, to "others". Just writing that previous sentence makes me think of my role as pastor or one's role as a disciple of Jesus.
Often, the "other" does not understand why I could be joyful, or why, as some have said, "I could have hope in a God that allows people to die." It's up to me, as a disciple of Jesus, to put Jesus' message of hope and salvation in words that can be understood by others. A famous preacher from the US, Barbara Brown Taylor once said to a group of preachers that no one will believe those who proclaim the good news of God in Jesus unless we first prove that we have gotten our hands in the muck of life and dug down deep, pulling up the mess for all to look at and better to understand. When we serve up a little grace with some "theological parsley on top", people will learn to look elsewhere for food.
What does that mean - to serve up grace with a little "theological parsley on top"? For Taylor, she means to keep it real. Those of us who are Christians, must let our actions and our words match, but even more, we must begin to tell God's story in a way that others can understand. What does that mean for you?
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