Story

I recently attended a conference called Story. It wasn’t just about every story having a beginning, middle and end. It was about how to communicate our experiences in ways that help others understand and possibly feel what we’ve encountered. Stories help us to understand life.

Anon, a Siberian Elder once said, “If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest. If you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life.”

Author Ursula K. Leguin put it another way, “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”

When God’s son showed up on our planet He had the power to heal and raise people from the dead. However, one thing He seemed to do more than anything else was tell stories or parables. He could have just stated the facts or pointed out the six easy steps to doing whatever, but instead He chose to relate to those around Him through the sharing of stories.

Today, we continue to share stories in books, on television and in movie theaters. Many of those stories have touched lives and cultures in many ways. Modern day stories shown on the silver screen have popularized clothing lines, catch phrases and worldviews or philosophies of life. In fact, it’s my opinion that stories mold a generation.

With story being so important, I understand why God had a Christian invent television, creating the very rules that didn’t allow for words like water closet to be used on air. It also made sense to me why God positioned the church to police the motion picture industry with the Hays Motion Picture Code for decades. During that time period films wouldn’t make it into the theaters unless the Christian film office gave its approval on the film’s content. No wonder that era was considered the golden age of movies.

What I have difficulty understanding is why the church pulled out of television and walked away from the job of policing movies before they could be released. The moment the Christians pulled out, the number of R-rated films skyrocketed. Profanity also moved into television and got worse every decade. The church had given its story telling media to the secular industry.

Today there is a grassroots movement to bring story back into our lives in the form of wholesome and moral entertainment. But more importantly, preachers and fathers are moving back to sharing stories that reveal who God is and how we are to live with Him. Many of the stories tell of His mighty works in our simple lives and how much He loves us.

It’s my hope that we will all learn how to share stories of our lives with others, in hopes of each listener being able to understand and feel how good life can be with God at the center of it. Do you have a story that is itching to be told? I suggest you share it with those around you and watch how it impacts their lives. It is a priceless value worth sharing.