{"id":8403,"date":"2020-06-04T09:57:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T14:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2022-10-18T16:29:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T16:29:22","slug":"3-reasons-the-world-needs-storytellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2020\/06\/3-reasons-the-world-needs-storytellers\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons the World Needs Storytellers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We are in the grip of a virus that has locked down the entire world. In the U.S. we are reeling from violence, from racial inequality, and the feeling that our cities may never be at peace. In light of a world-on-fire\u2014how do our stories matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They matter more than ever. In fact, the heartbreak and anger we\u2019re seeing right now would not exist if we had listened and attended to one another\u2019s stories\u2014on all sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three reasons that stories matter. (There are many more. But this is enough for today.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. In a fractious, violent world, our stories can offer healing and hope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The world is a mess. It\u2019s always been a mess. Many of us in the U.S. are spoiled. We\u2019re not used to social chaos. We\u2019re used to stability. Prosperity. People in other countries have experienced far more disruption. We\u2019re all a mess\u2014all over the world. We are divided by race, politics, awash in anger, hostility, and an ever-widening gap between us as neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have allowed politics to divide the church<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is true even in the body of Christ. In the U.S., we who want to be known as the people of God, people of light and salt and grace are known instead as a political party. As the Church, we have not pursued justice and peace for all. We have allowed racial divisions, economic divisions to continue among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Church, we have not pursued justice and peace for all. We have allowed racial divisions, economic divisions to continue among us.<\/p>

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In the midst of the darkness of this present crisis<\/a>, we\u2019ve all seen flashes of light. Of mercy. Policemen kneeling with those silently protesting the death of George Floyd. People rushing to help the injured, putting themselves in peril to save another. African Americans and police sitting down together, sharing a meal, sharing perspectives, listening to one another. Volunteers going out the next morning after the rioting and cleaning up the mess they didn\u2019t make. Men and women risking their freedom for the sake of those who daily experience racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we see these acts of sacrifice and reconciliation, We ALL suddenly remember who we are and what we\u2019re here for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessed are the peacemakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No greater love has anyone than this: that we lay our lives down for one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We who have been healed by the blood of Jesus, we are meant to be healers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We who have been forgiven can forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We who have been reconciled to God are meant to be reconcilers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of the good Samaritan is a story about us, about people so wrapped up in our politics and religiosity we walk right by our neighbor, bleeding to death.<\/p>

touched <\/a>and healed a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years\u2014who had to go around saying, \u201cUnclean! Unclean!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think how Jesus changed people\u2019s names and identities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman caught in adultery: They called her despised. Prostitute. Jesus called her Forgiven.
A tax collector, Matthew, labeled a traitor. Jesus named him Disciple and Friend.
Lepers were called unclean, outcasts. Jesus called them Healed.
A zealot, a violent revolutionary. He called Brother.
A Samaritan woman: despised and disvalued twice because of her gender and ethnicity. Jesus renamed Blameless.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He changed all our names and labels, didn’t he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He renamed me: from invisible fatherless girl, to Beloved Daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never changed a Pharisee to a Sadducee or a Herodian to a Zealot. He didn\u2019t change an Ethiopian to a Jew. He swept us from our native country\u2014the kingdom of darkness to a new country\u2014the kingdom of light. He gave us new names because he gave us a new country with a new king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is what happens when we share our stories and listen to the stories of others. As we write into our own lives, we see the hands of God all through our past. We see the ways he has rescued and delivered us and changed our names. Every one of us, carrying the image of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can let go of simplistic labels<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Who is my neighbor? Leper, prostitute, looter, shooter, republican, democrat, black, white. He\u2019s no longer called a Samaritan. He\u2019s called, \u201cThe One Who Had Mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let that be our name too as story-sharers and listeners: \u201cThe one who had mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sounds like everything we need right here: stories that offer healing and hope. Stories that reveal to us that the other is really our brother and sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is my neighbor? He\u2019s no longer called a Samaritan. He\u2019s called, \u201cThe One Who Had Mercy.\u201d Let that be our name too as story-sharers and listeners: \u201cThe one who had mercy.\u201d<\/p>