The idea of story has been coming back over and over again these past few weeks so I thought it would be a fitting topic to tackle here..
A good friend of mine just left the staff of Community Church (where I work) to pursue his dream calling of launching a non-profit organization that sees to end bullying by inspiring students with the power of a great story. (You can find out more here.)
His sold-out belief is that getting people to realize and live out a great story can change the world.. He’s actually willing to stake his livelihood on it..
Last summer, I attended the Natl. Worship Leaders Conference and had the privilege to hear Dr. Len Sweet talk about the power of story.. His premise was that as Christians we have the market cornered on one of the greatest stories ever told but we often feel the need to turn away from the story of Jesus and use our time talking about other things that are much less engaging and much less helpful to those who don’t know Christ.. His driving question was “Do you trust the story?”
Last night in my small group, we sat around discussing Sunday’s message and trying to answer the following question: “How can you present Jesus as the only way to salvation while remaining sensitive to others beliefs?” There were some great technical answers given about relating other religions with the teachings of Jesus and being relational and living out your faith..
I felt like we were missing the point and then realized.. Its all about the story..
When we share the compelling story of Christ; His life, teachings, death and resurrection and tell about the impact of Jesus in our lives, there is nothing that can be refuted.. Another person can’t tell me.. no you didn’t experience that, or God didn’t do that for you.. Its not possible for them to de-value my personal experience.. They don’t have to be in full agreement, but its not an imperial fact that can be countered with slick logic..
A great story… Our great story… has the power of life within it.. Can we live and share a great story of the restorative work of Jesus in US that might lead others to seek a great story of their own?
Eric Barz 