Connecting to the Metanarrative

Last month, I discussed the struggle that most people have seeing the divine metanarrative.¹ This month, I want to challenge us to not only see the metanarrative but to connect our lives to the metanarrative.

Given the challenge of seeing the divine metanarrative, it is easy to default to atheistic thinking and deny any metanarrative. Atheists contend there are no biases—everything is the result of randomness and disorder. Atheists believe that order came out of disorder without any divine guidance. Therefore, there is no transcendent meaning or purpose. People desiring to live a meaningful life must self-define their own purpose.

When humans self-define their purpose, they default to self-glory, as was the case with the Tower of Babel. This project was executed by ordinary people whom God used to illustrate the bias toward narcissism in the heart of fallen mankind. Consider their attitude expressed in this conversation:

“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” (Genesis 11:4 ESV)

The Tower of Babel was an attempt to self-glorify apart from the divine metanarrative. Sin, however, does not thwart the purpose of God. King Solomon said:

"No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD." (Proverbs 21:30–31 ESV)

God’s metanarrative will be executed.² Everyone has a role to play.³ The most rewarding way to participate is to obey God by finding and fulfilling our roles in the metanarrative. Consider the admonition from the writer of the book of Hebrews:

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV)

In the context of the metanarrative, each person has a race to run, that is, a divinely ordained individual purpose. It is our responsibility to discern and run our race, “looking to Jesus” as our source of wisdom, power, guidance, provision, and protection.

No matter one’s role in the metanarrative—big or small—it is important. God made us specifically to fulfill the role and to live congruent with his metanarrative.

People must seek to run their race in every area of life—personal, family, work, church, and community. Life is about alignment with God—his will, his ways, and his timing. Success is measured by obedience to him. These are the rules of his universe. Since he created the universe, people don’t have the right to change his rules. Attempts to change them are markers of antinomianism and narcissism as displayed in the Tower of Babel project.

So how does one see and connect one’s life with the metanarrative?

Consider the story of a navy officer who operated the fire control computer for the 5-inch guns on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington stationed in the Pacific theater during World War II. The 5-inch guns were antiaircraft weapons. The greatest threat was suicide attacks by aircraft called kamikazes. Aircraft carriers were the preferred targets. Consequently, this naval officer spent hours alone at his battle station—in a room deep in the ship with no porthole. His only connection to the outside world was a radar screen, radio, and computer.

Fighting kamikaze attacks was emotionally, mentally, and physically difficult. American soldiers valued life, but the Japanese did not. There is perhaps nothing more terrifying than fighting an enemy who doesn’t value life. The soldiers on the USS Lexington valued their lives and, therefore, spent hours at their battle stations waiting for action. Some have described their existence as hours of boredom interrupted by minutes of stark terror.

The USS Lexington was a ship commissioned for service in the United States (US) Navy. The US Navy is a branch of the United States military. The genesis of the Pacific theater of War World II was Japanese imperialism. The United States opposed Japan because the United States valued the sovereignty of nations. Given the Christian heritage of the United States, this view was, most likely, rooted in Scripture. For example, Paul stated this about God:

"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place." (Acts 17:26 ESV)

Either wittingly or unwittingly, the United States stood to defend the sovereignty of God in establishing nations. Japan did not have the right to change what God ordained. Therefore, Japan was in rebellion against God.

The reason that Japan, or any country, engaged in imperialism was given in the protevangelium (the first preaching of the gospel):

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

In the account of the fall of man, the first judgment was pronounced on the serpent who represented Satan⁴ and the kingdom of darkness.⁵ This judgment was a prophetic picture of the metanarrative—a war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman was a reference to Christ and those aligned with him.⁶ And the seed of the serpent was a reference to Satan and those aligned with him.

Dennis Peacocke calls this the war between two seeds. This war is a prophetic picture of history and is largely the story recorded in Scripture—beginning in the third chapter of the first book of the Bible to the third chapter from the end of the Bible. This means that everything from the fall of man to the second advent⁷ of Christ is part of the metanarrative.

The metanarrative is the overarching multigenerational story of history. It is the battle of right and wrong, the struggle between good and evil that engulfs life. In every context the battle ebbs and flows. The battle happens in individuals, families, organizations, churches, and governments.

In World War II, the United States played a role in resisting Japanese imperialism. The purpose of the US Navy was to effect the directives of the United States government. The purpose of the crew of the USS Lexington was to fulfill the orders of the US Navy. And the fire control computer operator on the USS Lexington played his role in the narrative by operating the computer to accomplish the ship’s mission.

Purpose, meaning, and significance in life are found singularly and coherently in alignment with God’s divine story of history. This isn’t always easy to see but it is our responsibility to seek to make the connection between our existence and the metanarrative.

Given that every person and organization exists to serve the purpose of God in his metanarrative, learning to connect to the metanarrative is then a key to understanding individual and organizational purpose.

Learning to understand and align with the metanarrative is challenging. My Strategic Life Alignment Seminar⁸ was developed to help individuals discern their respective roles in the metanarrative. Furthermore, because most individuals fulfill their purpose in the context of organizations, the Beyond Babel Model⁹ was developed to help leaders and managers build organizations in alignment with the will and ways of God.

Individually and organizationally, alignment with God’s will and ways is the key to a meaningful and purposeful life. In a universe created and governed by a sovereign, intentional, and strategic God, there can be no other wise way to live. May the Lord grant us grace to connect our lives to his metanarrative and so that we can live to solely please him.

As for the navy officer mentioned above, he is my first spiritual father—my ninety-six-year-old father-in-law—a man who modeled for me how to live aligned with the metanarrative. He continues to guide me into alignment with the will and ways of God both through his actions and his words.

Merry Christmas!

Recordings of recent training

Gleanings