A Church of Stories

Dan Lugo | Jul 7, 2010

I love stories.
 
My favorite songwriters share why they wrote the song. My sister spent a year in the Dominican Republic, teaching during the day and playing dominoes over shared pots of rice at night; she recounts the conversations in great detail. One of my best friends from college just travelled with his brothers for two weeks throughout Europe, and wore one suit the whole trip. I can listen to each of these people for hours.
 
Truly, everyone loves a good story.
 
I would argue the most universally enjoyable form of communication is story. It’s not telling facts, propositional truths or debating. It’s story, because while those other forms tend to divide, story invites people in.
 
A man asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus says, “A man was walking on a road to Jericho.” If Jesus uses another method the inquisitor can argue that a Samaritan cannot be his neighbor. But he won’t argue that a man was walking on a road to Jericho.
We get stories.
 
A few years back my heart was broken for those experiencing homelessness in my community. A group of us went to the downtown area with blankets, hats, bags and gift cards to share conversation and material goods, all in the name of Jesus. I held onto this experience (more appropriately, it held onto me) and wrote a song. Weeks later, at a coffee shop, I played that song. I didn’t know how to convince my unfamiliar audience that we need to take care of people and that Jesus loves the world. But I didn’t have to. I told that story. And I played that song. You’d be surprised how many strangers said they wanted to do what we were doing.
 
We believe there is hope for what matters in life. But if we don’t have stories that communicate that truth, it may not be true. At least not to those who need hope the most.
 
Each fourth Sunday at Living Hope is testimony Sunday. The faux bearskin rug is laid by the proverbial fireplace and we listen to the echoes of God’s Grand Story in the smaller voices of our congregation. Some months there is much to say. Some months there isn’t.
 
My prayer is that we will be a church that tells stories. That we will speak echoes of God's Grand Story. That strangers will hear our words and want to do what we are doing. And that in hearing these echoes of the greatest story ever told, they will sense the invitation.
 
How can we as a church community echo the Grand Story?
How do you see God moving in your life? (Is it in subtle hints or commanding shouts?)
What thoughts/ideas sprung up as you read this?
 
Recommended reading: A Million Miles In a Thousand Years or Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller; The Acts of the Apostles (It's in the Bible... near the back)

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