Tell Better Stories

One of the advantages of long car trips over the holidays is that it gives me the opportunity to catch up on podcasts. The one that I listen to most faithfully is the Mars Hill Bible Church weekly sermons. I must admit that I kind of have a man crush on their teaching pastor Rob Bell. While I really his sermons, I actually want to give some thoughts on a recent talk that Don Miller gave at the church. You can download the actual talk here.

In the talk Miller discusses viewing our lives as stories. He asks the question, "What type of story is your life telling?" I found this to be a very thought provoking question. He talked about the power that storytelling can have in our lives. Good books and movies can captivate our attention with their storylines. People love good stories.

Miller challenged the listeners to think about what type of story they are telling with their lives. He believes that one of the best evangelistic techniques a Christian can have is by telling a good story with their life. I think this is really true. We are usually take interest in people who are telling good stories with their lives. He says that one of the ways to tell if you are telling a good story with your life is to ask the question what dreams would die and what things would not happen if you were to die.

I found this talk to be extremely challenging. I think that so often I choose to settle into the easy uneventful story, rather than allowing my life to tell a great story. Even as I choose to do ministry full time, it seems really easy to fall into a life that is a simple and predictable story. I pray that I will continue to be challenged to think about how I can tell better stories with my life.