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Post date: Jan 30, 2018 10:45:45 PM
Hi Eleanor,
Gospel Improv is a method for creatively expressing the gospel using a framework that focuses on our longings or desires. The hope is that by becoming good at gospel improv, students become better at identifying and talking about the experiences in life that motivate us toward God (or "through the thresholds") -- the underlying dynamics of the gospel. A side benefit is that we get good at running GIGs and proxes.
I started preferentially using Mathias Media's "2 Ways to Live" gospel outline a long time ago, but found it (1) hard for students to retain and (2) didn't capture felt experience of students very flexibly (a fault of most gospel outlines -- usually too abstract and turn on a single metaphor -- "reconciliation" is a favorite). In the early days of proxe stations we started modifying it to look a bit more like the old bridge diagram (calling it "2 worlds" gospel outline) and it is easy to fit into the metaphor of pretty much any proxe. When we started building our own proxes we found it easiest to "work backwards" from the gospel expressed in a Bible passage to a proxe theme "hook." The idea is to give students a gospel "framework" rather than an "outline" so they can get good at expressing the gospel in life situations (such as a Bible study or a conversation about life with a friend). It is simple (students can remember it), and the method shifts the focus to creatively applying rather than memorizing it. Memorizing a "gospel outline" sometimes gets us in the straight-jacket of always having to understand or tell the gospel one way. Practicing the framework on different passages helps us get good at spotting the underlying dynamics in ways that might connect better. I often write it as God)Jesus(us.
I really need to write this all down at some point, but the process of Gospel Improv goes like this:
in Bible study (works best to pick very familiar passages about Jesus, but I've had students do great gospel improv on unlikely passages in Leviticus) we take what I think is called a structural approach. That is, we drive quickly towards identifying a central "tension" in the passage rather than a central "teaching." (a "conflict, "crux" or that-bit-that-gets-you-angsty-or-emotional -- anyway, we try to capture the experience of the tension in an emotion word or existential way). It has to be contextualized to "how do we experience this tension?" To experience a tension in this way is to experience the work of God in awakening us to our real situation. We could call it conviction of the Holy Spirit. This can still be done with inductive methods, btw.
Next, we identify two "sides" that make it a tension. One side is God's Shalom/God's world that we long for (even if only intuitively) -- any genuinely good thing or end that we desire. This is, incidentally, why it works in life situations: we assume that God's grace is operative and can be captured in intuitions, glimpses, and longings. The other side is the fallen world that we want, desire (or settle for, or crave) in a broken way. The idea is that we experience tension when we long for God's world but are stuck in our broken world -- the tension is being caught between two worlds. So it looks like: God's World) tension(broken world. It is best to capture both the tension and the two sides in the metaphor of the biblical passage (this is the creative step that helps people ultimately express the gospel in fresh and relevant ways).
Finally, we ask the question "how does God want to resolve or relocate the tension?" Another way to ask this is "how does Jesus show up to save/heal/liberate and set us on a new path?" What is God's unexpected "third way" out of our impossible dilemmas?
That's the gospel! I usually ask students to summarize the discussion explicity in the terms of a 2 Worlds story and to make it personal (i.e. how I experience the tension in my life). You end up with lots of different ways and metaphors for expressing the gospel.
Bonus Round: build a proxe. The discussion thus far gives us the last two panels of a proxe (gospel outline and passage) as well as a juicy Divinely-orchestrated existential tension.
Panel One. What is a fun, non-threatening and participative way to bring up the central tension for people? Any ideas from the passage?
Panel Two. What will help people realize that this is a tension that they feel personally?
After that, it's easy. Jesus gets the tension. He joins us there. He shows up to lead us out. I love this way of expressing the gospel because the cross isn't something that get's tacked on "Jesus died for your sins, by the way." The logic of the cross it built in. It is an act of sacrifice and love for Jesus to show up for us at the point of tension. He accepts the consequences of that. He himself gets caught in the same tension because he takes responsibility for the broken stuff, but he has the power to overcome it.
Similarly, to follow Jesus (in a missional way as we say in IV) is to do what Jesus does. Show up beside people where life is hard. God has gone before and drawn people into the tension (without longings for a better world we would feel no tension). Jesus will meet people there.
For me, Gospel Improv ties together a number of IV methodologies.
Well, there you have it, basically. Certainly, a much longer answer than you were asking for. I started answering your question then thought it was a good opportunity to get some ideas down. I'm the resource guy for Native Ministries now, so I have to get used to the idea of getting stuff down rather than just always winging it. :)
Skʌnʌ (peace/harmony/Shalom),
Tim
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