We listen to the Word in three ways: as Storytellers, Pattern-Keepers and Overcomers.
Listen to the Word
An imaginative and creative wisdom kindles within us a bold humility to listen to the Word and discover in the mystery of the Father’s will how to walk dangerous paths that must be taken to overcome evil with good.
We listen to the Word in three ways.
- As Storytellers who follow the lectionary in rhythm with the Church Year.
- As Pattern-Keepers who interpret the Word according to the Apostolic Rule of Faith.
- As Overcomers who observe our Constitution.
We follow Christ as our lead Storyteller (priest), Pattern-Keeper (prophet) and Overcomer (king). Christ is both our model and the source of our empowerment in these practices of listening.
Follow the Lectionary in Rhythm with the Church Year
Basileians listen to the Word as Storytellers in our priestly practice of following the lectionary in rhythm with the Church Year.
As Storytellers, we follow the worship calendar, now called the Church Year, that God originally gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai about 3,500 years ago, which was subsequently fulfilled and reshaped by the events of Jesus’ life and ministry and the ongoing acts of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We regard the Church Year as the primary framework by which we learn of and then participate in the story that makes us the People of God. Thus we listen to the Word in the context of the Church Year, not as spectators of the truths revealed, but as doers of and participants in those truths in our way of life.
Listening to the Word according to the framework of the Church Year opens up to us all the riches of the Church necessary to interpret the Word according to the Apostolic Rule of Faith.
Interpret the Word According to the Apostolic Rule of Faith
Basileians listen to the Word as Pattern-Keepers in our prophetic practice of interpreting the Word according to the Apostolic Rule of Faith.
As Pattern-Keepers, we employ the Apostolic Rule of Faith as the pattern for embodying the Word in our vocational callings as baptized and ordained believers, families, civil magistrates, educators, business people, artists, athletes, medical professionals, scientists, etc. Our interpretation of God’s revelation to us through creation, Scripture and the Spirit is authoritative only to the degree that it self-evidently and faithfully agrees with the pattern of the Apostolic Rule of Faith. In one sense all of the disciplines and practices of our Basileian way of life aim to release us to keep this pattern, which is revealed from above, not force upon us the pattern of the Fallen World System.
Receiving the Word as Storytellers and interpreting it as Pattern-Keepers are both foundational to being Overcomers who observe the Constitution of Basileia.
Observe the Constitution of Basileia
Basileians listen to the Word as Overcomers in our kingly practice of observing the Constitution of Basileia.
As Overcomers, we observe our Constitution as an ecclesiastical way of listening to the Word as revealed through creation, in Scripture and by the Spirit. In this way we are made bold and humble to dare to imagine a kingdomcultural alternative. Because our Constitution presents the charism we have received from Jesus Christ, it authoritatively states what is our Basileian way to overcome dead ritualism in worship, dead traditions in life, and dead legalism in governance. Our Constitution contains our “rules of engagement” for how we employ our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons as weapons of spiritual warfare against all that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
Together, these three practices by which we listen to the Word as Basileians lay foundations in us that enable us to govern from the Table.
