Wayward Story

It's no secret that I love the TV show Lost. Yes, I even loved the finale, with it's lack of answers and controversial (but I thought totally clear and beautiful) final scene. I loved it for the characters. Yeah, the secrets and numbers and Others kept things interesting from time to time, but it was really- for me- about Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Hurley and the rest.

The way I came to love these fictional, messed up people is a big reason why I loved Lost as a character show. You meet them in the middle of their lives, no explanation, no back story save the story they are telling at the moment. Some stories were true, others- total fabrications. (I'm looking at you, Ben Linus.) Either way, some you loved instantly, some you hated, others scared you. But, through the non-linear storytelling of Flashbacks and Flashforwards, we learned more than the characters would ever feel like letting on. Through these stories, these true stories, we came to love a snarky con-man, to question the sanity of the most lovable teddy bear of a man, and to see the broken shell that birthed the (at least initially) Man of the Island.

I liked Lost for its wayward characters who weren't always what they seemed; sometimes better, often worse.

I liked it because it is very much like real life.

Without the smoke monsters and living islands.

When we meet, the only story I know is what you tell me. I have to take your word. But the more I get to know you, the more you share about where you've come from- and where you are going- the more I see the real you. Because our stories- our lives- are not linear.

Sure, we don't time travel or jump a couple decades in experiences, but the things that happened to us absolutely shape us today. For example, when I was in college, a ministry I was involved in had a brainstorming session about how to meet the evolving needs of college students. Two groups emerged, "keep it the same" and "radically change it." I was in the "radically change it" camp, and voiced my opinion for very non-traditional approaches. Try new things, reach out to people in new and fresh ways, make evangelism more relational and less event oriented. Focus on what the organization did best instead of trying to be everything at once.

I did not win out.

But five years or so later, I find myself again speaking these things to a traditional church. Again, it was going no where, when God, using my memory of the last time that happened, began to shape a thought, a vision, for what would become the church I know pastor.

That's one example of many. In fact, I'm even working on self-publishing a memoir type book called The Wayward that spells this out in more detail. It should be up for download by the end of the year or early next. Essentially, it points out that are stories, our lives, follow no clear pattern. Things we thought were said and done resurface and change us, shape us, and motivate now. Not only that, our future shapes us as well. Disagree? How many of you have retirement and financial plans for the future that affect the way you spend today? How many of you have life and career goals that direct your daily actions now? How many of you are dating to find "The One?"

Truth is, we are all writing a wayward story. We may be like Paul- an enemy of Christ who does a 180 and becomes a devoted follower. He didn't see that coming, but he used his past experience with the Law to become the great theologian of the New Testament. You could get whiplash trying to keep up with the twists and turns of David's life.

But that's our viewpoint. Like on Lost, we only got the information the producers felt necessary at that moment. What may seem all over the map to we the viewers (supposedly) was all part of the plan of the producers. While the validity of that claim is sketchy, the same claim could be made by God and be totally true. We may get tangled up in the plot threads of our lives, but God is still sticking with the master plan.