Hurdles

I've finally made time (well okay, the 2 feet of snow in Boston made time) to get into Warren Carter's book, John:  Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist.  Its a most helpful companion to our current journey through the conversations in the Gospel According to John. I've heard Warren speak.  He combines just the right amounts of erudite and down to earth insight.

In his discussion of the plot, Warren makes a nice outline of the four major elements previewed in this gospel's prologue. Here's my interpretation of what I'll call the "four hurdles."
Hurdle 1.  Jesus' credibility, which rests on the claim that he is God's original agent. John 1: 1-5
Hurdle 2.  A "behind the scenes" struggle (after their executions) between Jesus and John's respective followers. John 1: 6-8.
Hurdle 3.  The choice readers face of whether to follow Jesus or turn away, particularly in light of how countercultural, even dangerous, Jesus' way can be. John 1: 9-16.  (Verses 1: 10-13 have a nice plot summary)
Hurdle 4. How can Jesus be more important than Moses,  hero of the exodus and bringer of the law?

You may have noticed that the first and last have to do with "who the heck does this guy think he is," and the middle two are "then what should we do about it?"

Luckily, the Gospel encourages us not to puzzle over it alone, like this poor guy.  By creating a "revelatory biography"  (Warren Carter's term) that is a series of action linked conversations, the author shows us that insight comes from holy conferencing (John Welsey's term) or just plain good conversation.

That's the approach we're taking in worship right now, and on the pastor and church blogs.  We're also going to try a "virtual small group" and are eager to enlist participants and ideas about what platforms to try. So, let me know!