After writing the other day about the competing narratives in our lives I found myself listening to Pandora radio when a song by Third Day played. It was part of a live recording at the end of which they talked about going on a USO tour and singing to "our troops." The crowd went wild in applause and praise.
I stopped in my tracks, my mind was racing, here was a Christian band, ministering to God's people, representing Jesus Christ, talking about "our troops." I find the same words being used on local Christian radio, a venue in which the name of Jesus is supposed to be being lifted up, a radio station that is supposedly ministering as the body of Christ to the world through the medium of radio and yet they too continue to talk about "our troops" and "our country."
The apostle Paul reminds us that in the church, "there is no Gentile or Jew, circumicised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free." National, traditional, cultural, geographical and social barriers are done away with in the church. Our calling as members of the body of Christ, as citizens of the kingdom of God, transcends our earthly citizenship in all its forms.
The collision of narratives takes place in the use of the possessive pronoun, "our."
As the church, as those who represent Jesus to the world, we have to be very careful what we claim as "our" possession. For what we declare "ours" says a lot about the narrative that shapes our lives and impacts how others view us.
Imagine for a moment you are Iranian or Somalian and much of what you have heard about Christianity is that it is the religious arm of the military complex of the United States. You decide you want to see for yourself if this is true and you search the web and find this song by Third Day and hear the local Christian radio station station use "our" as they do. How do you hear the words listening from that perspective? Can you see how the words "our troops" would be heard to mean the troops of the Christians and "our country" to mean the land of the Christians?
When as Christians we reference "our country" we should be referencing our new citizenship in the kingdom of God.
I am not suggesting that anyone turn their backs on the nation in which they live. I simply believe we have to be careful to be aware of, and separate when possible, the narratives that compete for our allegiance. To separate this particular narrative I would propose that Christians, as representatives of Christ, should reference "our country" as the "United States" (or whatever nation you are a citizen of), and "our troops" as "the United States military." For those who would want to thank troops for their service I would again encourage the dropping of "our" and thank them for their service to "the country."
I also find a huge collision of narratives in the economic realm. As people talk about "my hard earned money," "my possessions," "my stuff." This too is a serious area of growth in terms of overcoming a dominant narrative of the world. The gospel teaches us that everything belongs ultimately to God and that we are stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Again the use of the possessive pronoun says a lot about the narrative that directs our life. Imagine how generous we could be if we got over the possessive pronoun here!
Jesus even goes as far as using possessive pronouns to redefine his family.
"Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”"
Are you aware of the narratives that shape your life? Are you aware of how the various narratives compete for your allegiance? May the narrative of the kingdom of God dominate all competing narratives in the life God has given each of us.
