I love stories. If you spend much time around me, you will hear me quote a movie or tv show. This fact is as immutable as the sun rising and setting. In many ways I was raised by stories. Titanic taught me about water safety, Saving Private Ryan taught me about french beaches, Cujo taught me about dog ownership, The Notebook taught me about dementia and dating rituals. With these kinds of influences, it is no wonder I have come out so well adjusted.
I think this love for stories stemmed from my childhood. I won’t go into all of the ins and outs of it, but my childhood had its challenges. These stories, portrayed through film, would transport me out of the life I was currently living and into something magical. I could be anything, and anything was usually better than being a kid. I could lose myself in these stories, engrossed by every detail. I could see these stories playing out in the real world in tiny microcosms. The friendships, the betrayals, the chaotic nature of all the many stories that can be told and have been told. I loved it all.
As I sit here now, as a 27 year old husband and father of three, this love of stories has percolated into almost every area of my life. I read stories to my kids, we watch movies and tv shows together, and all the while I’m trying to see if they are catching the spark that I have. I think the best part of it all is when they get to interact with the biggest and most important story of our human existence, the story of the Bible. I truly believe that the Lord has used the circumstances in my life to foster this love of stories for the purpose of causing me to fall in love with His story.
If we are being honest, there isn’t a story that comes close to the Bible. It has everything you could possibly want! There are the protagonists, the antagonists, the inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Not only is it a great read, but it is a story that you and I are currently participating in, with the script that shows us how this whole thing is going to end! You can keep your football: this stuff is what it's all about!
I don’t think this storytelling business is some great idea conjured up by myself. I see it in the very words of Scripture. God has created us in His image, and human history, the Bible as a human/divine storybook, and the very words of Jesus bear witness that God is a storyteller, and that he has made a whole bunch of other storytellers. Glance at these sacred words of Scripture to see what I mean, “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’” (Matt. 13:34-35)
Time after time, crowd after crowd, miracle after miracle, Jesus is telling stories to illustrate the Kingdom of God, faith, salvation, riches, pitfalls, sin, righteousness, judgment. The list goes on and on, but what we see is that so many key concepts Jesus is trying to convey are through parables. These stories have the dual purpose of obfuscating his message as well as informing. Look at the verses bellow, “Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ And he answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given… This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled…’” (Matt. 10:10-11, 13-14)
Notice that these parables were not mere fancies that Jesus decided to come up with on the spot. They were actually used in the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He needed the message conveyed with some people getting it, and some people going, “What on earth is this guy talking about?” Our sovereign God has crafted our very existence in a chronological timeline that simply can’t play out in any other way than as a story. It always has a beginning, middle, end, and the never-ending epilogue. I hope you are getting the picture. Stories are important, not only to us, but to God.
All of this has been a large preamble to what I’d like to discuss with you. It seems clear that stories are imbued into us by our Creator, and this world spits a lot of stories out year after year in the form of news articles, movies, books, podcasts, and everything else under the sun. With this being our reality, we must take care to be careful with what we allow in our minds. The following is a list of items to think through before you consume a story.
Consider the creator
Stories don’t just materialize out of thin air, no matter what big bang adherers will tell you. Stories are made and told by people, and if we know anything about people it is that they are…complicated. When we consume a story, it would be wise to know the source that it is coming from. Doing this will give us insight into the motive behind its messaging.
Consider the format
The format of a story can be immensely influential. Are you listening to a podcast about a tragedy in Paris, or are you watching a personal video on someone who had boots on the ground? Are you reading a book about a graphic and brutal battle in Vietnam, or are you watching a movie? Have you ever heard the saying, “Men watch their porn, and women read theirs.”? This pithy saying can seem crude, but it gives us critical insight about specific differences in how men and women interact with the world. This is no different with consumption of stories. Gender,age, experience, ability, worldview, as well as format play critical parts in how stories can impact us, for better or worse.
Consider the context
Is the story you are consuming coming from the 1st century or the 21st century? What is the environment in which this story is being shaped? What country was this story produced in? What were the socio-economical conditions in which this story was made in? Granted, not every product will need such considerations. I don’t often think about the war on terror when I watch Monsters, Inc. On the other hand, knowing about the presidency of Donald Trump helps to understand the satirical message of Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s film Mickey 17. This can be a clarifying factor, but, in my opinion, not as important as our next category.
Consider the content
I feel like this category needs no introduction. This is what we flock to when considering to put something on in front of the kids, or the parents, or the youth group. We check parent guides and reviews from trusted sources to see just how depraved the story is, and honestly, we need to be doing this. This is a fallen world that is ruled by the “ruler of the power of the air,” (Eph. 2:2) and he does not desire our edification.
The mind is a powerful place, and what you feed it can affect you in a powerful way. I’m not advocating for the abolition of anything that you can’t tie a Bible verse to, but the heart of what we are consuming needs to be helping us to combat this world and our natural fallen tendencies to turn away from God. This falls squarely in the “Christian Liberty” category of our faith, and different individuals will come away with different limits to what they can handle or will allow. Sometimes we realize what we can handle through failure to be discerning. As someone who wrestles with this material often, I may have a more stringent view on things than someone who is just beginning their journey of wading through these thoughts.
We live in a world that bows to the mighty dollar and pursues profit over morality, especially Christian morality. We need to be hearing the word of our Lord when He said, “‘Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.’” (Matt. 10:16). This world seeks our downfall, but we are called to be faithful in this fallen place, for we have been placed here for a purpose. Remember, we are in the greatest story ever told, and the Author wrote you to play a part.
Take heart that you are not alone, both spiritually and physically. We have the continual presence of the Lord with us, and the local church body to help and guide us as we stumble forward towards Heaven. I leave you with the word of Jesus, praying to the Father for His disciples in John 17:17-18, “‘...Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world…’”