Last summer a retired professor and I [Rick] floated down 187 miles of the Grand Canyon, from the Lee’s Ferry launch to the Whitmore helipad, where a helicopter retrieved us from the bowels of the canyon. I will forever treasure this experience – for a litany of reasons – but chief among them is the way that seven days, a mile deep in a canyon, altered my view of life.
As my friend and I sat in solitude on the edge of the river, over a mile into the earth, with 18,000 cubic feet of water per second rushing by, nothing could be clearer to us than this: life is bigger than us. It is not because we are in the canyon that it is Grand. The canyon is Grand, whether we, or anyone else, happens to be in it.
In that canyon, we experienced the wonderfully fresh realization that like the Grand Canyon, there is a Grand Story to life–a grander story exists apart from us, from our story, from our lives. There is something more beautiful, more powerful, and more important happening of which we have little to do with. And yet still, our lives intersect it. We get to play a key role in the grander story; but our story never supplants the grander story, nor rivals it as the ultimate narrative.
The Grand(er) Story
Meta-narratives have fallen into disrepute within certain academic circles, but the God of the Bible claims to be the author of an ongoing meta-story that can be succinctly summarized as creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Our lives, then, are lived out in a world that is created and owned by God, in a world that has fallen, and yet in a world where God has made himself known through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. And because of Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, this world that will one day be fully restored.
We are not given the specifics of the restoration like we might clamor for, and one’s theological persuasions will doubtless impact how one envisions the restoration taking place, yet undeniably God is in the business of redeeming a people for himself and restoring his creation; he will assuredly complete the task, for His glory.
A "Grander Story" Perspective on Life Changes Everything
In the professor stories that we often share in these Missional Moments, readers will often notice this grander story perspective. For example: at some point in many of these journeys a faculty member comes to affirm the difference between being a “professor, who is a Christian” and a “Christian, who is a professor.” This distinction is life-defining and flows from the reality that our career designations are not the ultimate referent in the world. Rather, his grander story is the ultimate meta-narrative that shapes life; our lesser particular story rightly finds its place in relation to his grander story.
The majestic God of the universe brought you into the world, endowed you with certain gifts and abilities, and called you to play a pivotal role in one of the most strategic places in the world, the American university. His grand story gives meaning to our particular stories, not vice versa, and His story provides the framework to tackle the question:
- As a Christian professor, how shall I then live?
- How is my particular story as a Christian academic shaped by his grander story?
- Over the course of my life, what story will my life ultimately tell?
In summary: God’s grander story beckons to be the ultimate referent for a wisely lived life.
After all, his story precedes us (we had nothing to do with being born into this story), and our lives comprise but a subplot to his greater story (this story will continue far beyond us), and it is his ultimate story that provides meaning to all of life.
How Should One Live a Life as a Christian Academic?
By recognizing the Grander Story and aligning our life to its central character, themes, and purposes.
Heather Holleman
Penn State