There's a lot of talk about story these days. In fact, STORY seems to be everywhere. Books, conferences, blogs. We are all enamored with the idea of story. We share our story and hope people better understand us, our point of view.
When I was approached about reviewing Scott McClellan's Tell Me A Story: Finding God (and Ourselves) Through Narrative, I wondered what would make it different from the other stuff out there. Let me tell you: this slim book is worth reading for the last chapter.
McClellan's premise is that we're storytellers and should view our lives as a part of God's story. Our lives tell a story but we are also in the middle of God's story.
At first, perhaps because of the foreward written by Jeff Goins (which: deja vu), I thought the book was an argument for everyone to do Big And Crazy Things with their lives. While we should all take a good hard look at the lives we're leading, some of the story movement misses out on the holy moments of the every day. We are not all called to be superheroes. And even if we are, there's still laundry to fold and dishes to wash.
McClellan takes more of a Big Picture view. He takes a look at where we were, where we are, and where we want to go. The mundane is in there, somewhere, but he's not necessarily advocate we shake things up by, I don't know, moving to Nashville. Instead, he asks us to "sketch out our stories with God in mind...see His grace, goodness, and faithfulness emerge from the pages." (p. 47) How do we view the transitional and pivotal moments? How do we talk about difficulties and triumphs? What framework should we use when telling our stories?
Our story is our witness. It's our way to tell what God has done. It's a way of telling your testimony, you might say. But we go beyond our testimony when we share the unfinished story. When we share about unresolved conflicts and frustrating seasons of waiting. When we don't have all the answers. When we invite people into our present-moment pain.
As I mentioned earlier, I loved the final chapter of this book. When we think of story, we think in terms of the individual. McClellan points out the community aspect of story and this is so important to consider. Especially in light of our churches and being a part of the Body of Christ. We're not in this alone. We are transformed when we allow others to be a part of our story and when we are able to be a part of their story. McClellan discusses our responsibilities as observers and communicators. Just as we want our story to be heard, we must listen when others tell us their stories and listen with open hearts and minds. As I've been wrestling with community the past couple of years, this section stood out to me.
I wish the preceding chapters had been equally hard hitting. Instead, they built up to that crescendo. McClellan illustrated many of his points with his story of adoption and it was good to see how it played out. At times, he included unnecessary one-liners or off-putting references that could unintentionally offend readers. I'm sure that was not his intention.
Overall, I appreciated the message of Tell Me A Story. I'll leave you with this quote:
"We must invite people into the story, to believe in the events and the hope of the gospel...We must awaken to the ongoing story of God as expressed in the ministry and mission of the body of Christ. We must likewise call others to come awake. We must reach people to be storytellers, to speak meaning and hope amid chaos. We must be attentive storytellers who listen with empathy to the stories of others because human beings merit human connections." p. 127
Have you considered the community aspect of Story before?
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Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of Tell Me A Story by Moody with no expectation that I would provide a positive review. The thoughts, opinions, and reactions are entirely my own.
