Few things on earth rival the power of stories. Humans have always been captured by them. Whether ancient people in oral cultures handing down long and complex myths, a young child pretending to be the character of her favorite book, staying up late to finish a novel you can’t put down, or watching the latest blockbuster at a movie theater, stories carry an unmatched power for influence.
We have always used stories to entertain, to inform, and to inspire, but they also hand down cultural values to the next generation, and they help us to make sense of the world. Stories do what no bullet-pointed list can do. They sneak past our defenses, powerfully moving our hearts and minds to respond not to cold propositions, but to a masterpiece that is interwoven with goodness, beauty, and truth when it is told well. And when we see these three, stories can command a deep sense of responsibility and action.
A person’s story is the most personal thing they can share, wielding a power that helps us understand the storyteller in a way that photographs or show-and-tell never could. Whether we know someone or not, listening to their story shapes our understanding of who they are, how they've been shaped, and what their goals and dreams are, developing not simply knowledge, but deep empathy.
And what about your story? What story are you living? Stories not only help us understand others, but they also help us understand ourselves. We can’t truly know ourselves unless we know what story we are living in. This story is not simply where do you live, who do you love, and what do you do. Your story is intertwined in a million ways with the stories of others, individual and communal. Every community you belong to has a story that gives its members a shared understanding of meaning and purpose. Shared stories bring a feeling of community founded on shared principles or promises. Think of these:
If you join our gym, you'll be part of our family, and you will live the good life of fitness and health.
If you come to our university, you will be part of our community forever. You will receive an education that will help you live the intellectual good life and earn a meaningful income.
If you cheer for our team, you will be part of the family when we win the championship.
If you come to our theme park, you will experience excitement, joy, and adventure.
Every community is telling a story and inviting you to be part of it.
But most of us don't wake up every day thinking about stories. We don't think about the story of the world. We don't think about other people's stories, and we don't think about the story we’re living in. We just live. Yet, that doesn’t mean stories are absent; it means they are so deeply ingrained in our lives that we don’t even notice them.
Richard Kearney, professor of philosophy at Boston College, points out that “telling stories is as basic to human beings as eating. More so, in fact. For while food makes us live, stories are what makes our lives worth living.” Whoever tells the best story wins. Stories bring meaning, a prize for which we all humans run.
"Telling stories is as basic to human beings as eating. More so, in fact. For while food makes us live, stories are what makes our lives worth living.”
Richard Kearney
For millennia, deep meaning has been found in shared stories, but in a world of fractured attention, individualism, and distraction, shared stories are all but lost. For many of us, it feels like the stories we thought we were living lack the meaning we thought they had. So much of the current moment that is shaped by anxiety, fear, and existential crisis can be traced back to a lack of shared true stories.
But it's not enough to simply recognize stories as powerful. We must recognize that the power of stories can orient us to what is true, good and beautiful. And if they have this power, they also have the power to disorient us from what is true, good and beautiful. There are true stories and there are false stories. There are stories that can build up individuals and communities for a fruitful life and stories that will ravage individuals and communities, leading to their downfall and destruction.
As Alistair McIntyre argues, "I can only answer the question, 'What am I to do?' if I can answer the prior question of what story or stories do I find myself apart?" In other words, what you did or did not do today was largely a result of what story you perceive yourself to be living in.
"I can only answer the question, 'What am I to do?' if I can answer the prior question of what story or stories do I find myself apart?"
Alasdair MacIntyre
In other words, what you did or did not do today was largely a result of what story you perceive yourself to be living in.
Stories are the orienting feature of our lives. We don't just tell stories; we live in them. They draw our maps of reality, give us our internal compass, and set us along the road we have chosen to walk. Perhaps without even realizing it, we are living in a story that is helping us more deeply understand who God is, who we are, and what the world is—or we are living in a story that is pulling us away from those things. And the most persuasive stories are persuasive precisely because we don't realize they are stories. We just assume they are reality.
Jesus was profoundly aware of the power of stories. He was often using stories and parables to help his disciples be reoriented to the kingdom of God. He used stories to shape and form the imagination of his disciples. He told the story of the persistent widow, the prodigal son, the unforgiving servant, the parable of the soils, and many others. Jesus understood that stories have a profound impact on us.
We are being discipled by stories. To be a disciple is to be a learner, and all of us are learning how to live in different stories. Stories are powerful teachers, and we must be aware of what story or stories we are being taught and what story or stories we are living. If stories punctuate our lives, then to be a disciple of Jesus is to be re-storied. Disciples of Jesus are in the process of having their stories re-scripted by the storyline of Scripture.