Storytelling

“I asked God to help me understand the story of the forest and what it means to be a tree in that story.” - Donald Miller

What does it mean to be Drawn Into God's Story? How do we connect with Millenials? Why does the church matter? I've wrestled with a lot of big questions that don't have easy answers in the past few weeks. It's enough to drive you a little crazy.

On top of that, I've been to two different learning experience that, essentially, shot best practices and information at me like a fire hose. When I was reflecting on the 2015 Global Leadership Summit, I realized the most impactful moments for me were a series of small videos.

Bill Hybels called them part of the "Grander Vision." What he was really driving at is Call, and how we live out God's Call in our vocational lives. His description of the videos included Frederick Beuchner, who said calling is where, "my deep gladness meets the place of the world's deep need." Those five videos stuck with me and were, for me, the most powerful part of the two days.

I asked myself, why? Then I realized that the videos, as opposed to the messages, were tightly constructed personal stories. It was the stories that piqued my interest and inspired me. Ed Catmull, a senior executive for Pixar, had earlier in the conference talked about the power of story. He said, "stories will change the world. It's how we communicate with each other."

That's true. The best music is a personal story. The best film is a personal story. The best TV shows weave a deep, interpersonal narrative that draws you in and keeps you coming back. And story is the answer to all those weighty questions above.

I don't know how, and it's not quite that simple, but that's where it starts. We have to get better at telling beautiful stories.

On Sunday, as part of our Sunday School gathering, we looked at a message from Donald Miller about the importance of storytelling. In his book on telling stories, Miller illustrates the importance and resonance of the right kind of story.

“If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to be meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either."

As the church, story is the most important tool at our disposal. The word Gospel literally means the Good News. It's been called "The Greatest Story Ever Told." But that's only part of it. As the church, we have stories, too. They are powerful, emotional and compelling. But those stories don't seem to be what we're known for in the world.

That's a shame, and that's got to change. As Catmull said, "[stories] are how we communicate with each other." Stories are powerful. Stories are meaningful. Stories are necessary.

We just need to learn how to tell them better.