Uncommon Ground by Timothy Keller

Author:Timothy Keller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2020-02-04T16:00:00+00:00

The beauty and wonder of art is its ability to tell stories. The artist is a storyteller—as is the painter, the filmmaker, the songwriter. By using stories, artists push people toward the master narrative of our creation, our fall, our redemption, and our journey through the wilderness with God. People are drawn to story. The Lord of the Rings saga are some of my favorite films, second only to John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood. They show us human depravity, the darkness of the heart, and our lives wrestling with a sin nature.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis reveals God’s master narrative. A great and perfect king gave himself up for an utterly undeserving, conniving boy. The world is drawn to the story, not to a bunch of facts laid out about sacrificial love. You can’t grasp the meaning of the facts without the story being told.

The artist can either use story to help people see God’s master narrative or point to a lesser, unworthy protagonist. Years ago, I wrote a song called “Welcome to America,” which told three different stories from three perspectives of America.

The first verse is from the vantage point of a young person in the inner city who sees himself as the protagonist in a struggle against systemic oppression. He believes that effort will somehow make him stronger and bring him to a better place. Criminal enterprise isn’t his preference, but in a jobless community with subpar educational facilities, it’s the best hand he’s been dealt. This young person plans to engage in such criminal activity in hopes of relieving his family of poverty. America is the antagonist. The country’s biased systems don’t take into consideration the overwhelming circumstances of generational poverty and miseducation that existed well before any crime was committed. America made him this way. America is the source of all the pain and brokenness.

The second verse is the narrative of a soldier who has struggled and fought for the country he loves. His antagonist is an unpatriotic tribe of Americans who don’t appreciate what he’s done for them. He’s lost everything for their gain. He has lost his marriage, his mental health, the love of his friends, and nearly his own life. He believes in this country and believes that, though it is not perfect, America and its founding principles are pure. Believing in these principles encourages him to believe his fighting was not in vain. Still, he’s realizing that the people and country he fights for do not share the same patriotism.

The final verse is the story of an immigrant who can’t understand why Americans are so ungrateful for the wonderful country they have. From his perspective, Americans are blessed with bountiful freedom and opportunity. People in this country have an abundance of food and education. Clean water, beds, and health care are also provided. The immigrant speaks of working in sweatshops to provide Americans their luxuries. Without complaint, this foreigner just wants to join our ranks. America is the hero.

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