“Jesus was a storyteller. He used the language of the day, agricultural language and fishing language, to connect with His followers and disciples.”  -Drew Belz

These words, from a recent article in byFaith, remind us that the changing mindsets of our times demand a form of communication that touches people where they live.  People thirst today for relationships, meaning, hope, and encouragement to help them in the struggles that they face.  And oftentimes personal storytelling and its real-life effects provide inspiration and courage along the way.  Stories present us with the lives of real people who face real problems and find ways to overcome.  Listening to stories, and telling your own, is a strategic way to reach post-Christian minds with the gospel.

In my childhood, I remember vividly a godly woman named Mary Rose.  I still remember some of the Sunday School lessons she taught me. David and Goliath, the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, Elijah and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel and others are still firmly etched in my mind because she taught them as a story to my class.  She presented them as genuine people with great challenges who experienced great victories through the power of God.

What does story do to and for us?  Consider these benefits:

-It engages us in understandable ways.
-It captures our attention/interest.
-It moves us to contemplate/reflect.
-It brings abstract truth/theory down to real life.
-It provokes us to action/emotions.
-It fuels hope, comfort and inspiration.
-It bonds us to our audience/listeners.

If we are going to reach a post-Christian conditioned culture, we’re going to need to put the power of story on STEROIDS.  Today’s world is drawn to presentations of life that show real people facing formidable challenges who find ways to overcome and to win.  Effective witnessing today involves not only telling the gospel as a story, but also telling your life as a story.

When you think about it, that’s what the four gospels are all about: telling the story of one named Jesus, sent from God the Father in the power of the Spirit to accomplish a great victory for us–redemption.  The gospels present us with a compelling narrative in historical time and place about the love of an eternal God for broken people like you and me.  It tells us of the actions and words of a Savior who “emptied himself” (stripped himself of human dignity in Philippians 2) and became a servant so that God’s plan for our well-being could be secured. When we read the gospels (and other narratives in the Bible for that matter), we are drawn into a great story that tells us things about God, ourselves, and God’s boundless love for us in so many ways.

Some of the most impacting and successful movies, television shows, and books are structured as story to reach not only our heads, but most especially, our hearts.  We would do well to see this strategy, and to devise new and fresh ways to take the story of God’s redemptive love in Christ to a post-Christian culture that is searching for answers, hope, and help.