Stories of Our Lives
Publication Date
10-21-1998
Publication
The Christian Century
Document Type
Article
Abstract
I continue to believe that Christians ought to be wary of autobiography, particularly in a culture that gives us ample opportunities for self-indulgence. There is an appropriate--indeed, crucial--sense in which we ought to focus our attention on God and on the role of saintly mentors. We ought to lift up, in our congregations and in our culture, the stories of those who enable us to see God and the transformative power of the gospel more clearly and faithfully.
Even so, we ought not fail to tell the story of our lives to and with one another. As Augustine's Confessions so powerfully teaches us, we can reflect on our own lives in ways that reveal the gifts God has given to us, help others understand our vocations, and draw attention to saintly mentors whose lives have made such a crucial difference in our own. The real question is not whether we tell the story of our lives. It is whether we will do so in ways faithful to our vocation to love and know God in all that we are and do.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Gregory, "Stories of Our Lives" (1998). Public Intellectual Writing. 182.
https://repository.belmont.edu/gregoryjones_public/182
