Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.
Joel 1:3
STORY
In February 2019, the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit organization that provides standards for text on the internet and oversees emojis, approved 59 new emojis. The new symbols include an otter, a sloth, and a waffle. Though, most significant was that year’s emphasis on inclusiveness. Recent additions also include a hearing aid, a prosthetic limb, sign language, a cane, a wheelchair, a guide dog, and couples holding hands with each having a different skin tone. The dating app Tinder said the new emojis allowed couples of different races and genders to be included in the “universal language of the digital age.”
DEVOTION
The use of universal inclusive language is paramount if we are to effectively witness to our Christian faith. Just as an individual desires, when visiting a dating website, to be able to relate to a potential life-partner; the unsaved must be able to relate to our presentation of the gospel message. Emojis allow two people to better understand and connect with one another; our witnessing “emoji” is the story of our faith journey. Stories, like an emoji on a computer screen, allows our faith story to be visualized. A person will more readily relate to our faith journey story than they will to a diatribe of scripture quotations accompanying a verbal exposition.
The most transforming influence we have in society is telling a story. Currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu is the program Photographer. The documentary series showcases the exploits of National Geographic photographers as they capture still photographs, highlighting the planet we live on. The promotion line is this: “The only way you can change the world is good stories.”
Because Jesus came into your life you have a story to tell about that experience. Sharing your story will help others to know Jesus, understand Jesus, and accept Jesus into their Lord and Savior. You ae a storyteller with a very personal and meaningful story to share.
The origin of storytelling is documented for us by Dr. Anne Pellowski in her book The World of Storytelling. She received her doctorate from Columbia University School of Library Service. Dr. Pellowski is considered an expert on the culture of storytelling. In her book, she offered seven theories for the origins of storytelling that interrelate with one another. They are:
1. That it grew out of playful, self-entertainment needs of humans.
2. That it satisfied the need to explain the surrounding physical world.
3. That it came about because of an intrinsic religious need in human to honor or propriate the supernatural forces believed to be present in the world.
4. That it evolved from the human need to communicate experience to other humans.
5. That it fulfilled an aesthetic need for beauty, regularity, and form through expressive language and music and body movement.
6. That it stemmed from the desire to record the actions or qualities of one’s ancestors or leaders, in the hope that this would give them a kind of immortality.
7. That it encoded and preserved the norms of social interaction that a given society lived by.
If I may summarize these seven theories with an overgeneralization, I would conclude that the purpose of storytelling is to preserve and transmit the culture of a society. Stories have a religious and social dynamic that is imperative for the preservation of a tribe. It is with stories that we interpret how our selected god controls the universe. It is with stories that we pass on our history and traditions from one generation to the next. It is with stories we learn how to properly interact with other members of our community.
This should inform us as to why we tell stories. Though a story is fun to listen to, it’s intended purpose is to inform. The overarching goal of a story reaches beyond entertainment, though this is a worthy element of a story, we must realize that the true aspiration of a story is to convey religious beliefs and social norms of a community. A story will inspire the listener to accept established social standards. A story will encourage the listener to convert from foolishness to righteousness.
As outlined for us by Dr. Pellowski, the origin of storytelling is as complex as it is simple. Its purpose is as multifaceted as it is singular. Underlying all of this is an unparalleled truth – we tell stories to share thoughts, feelings, ideas, values, experiences.
I was introduced to the importance of storytelling preaching when I was a teenager worshipping at Ingomar United Melodist Church in Pittsburgh. The senior pastor, Elmer Parks, a stiff collar clergyman, pontificated from the pulpit. The associate pastor, David Lutz, a pig farmer who answered the call, told stories from his days living on a farm. I listened intently to the latter; never to the former.
When I was appointed by the bishop to the Redstone Circuit of three churches, I desired to be a storytelling preacher. Though, in my mid-twenties, my repertoire of stories was very limited.
One day, visiting an elderly couple in the Newell, Pennsylvania, sitting in their TV chair, I noticed a magazine rack filled with Guideposts magazines. Realizing the publication was a warehouse of Christian stories, I hesitantly asked if I could have them. They graciously agreed. Violating everything that I learned from my homiletics professor, I didn’t go from text to illustration, I first browsed Guideposts for stories, then I found a corresponding scriptural passage. I was a storytelling preacher.
You have a faith story to tell – Share it