Telling Your Precious Story and Listening to Others Will Revitalize Your Faith Five Day Bible Plan With Steve MorrisSample

Day Five: Church as a center of storytelling

For too long the experience of church has been about listening to people who are at the front. It has been a broadcast experience. But what if church could become the place where we hear and value the stories of those who are not usually listened to? I think it might signal a very interesting way of reimagining church. Of course, it will take a real change of direction.

To begin with we need to acknowledge the power of stories and their value. We may need to loosen our attachment to propositional truth. There are different strands here. The first is to truly understand the story of your church, warts and all.

‘Every community, every church has a story to tell. It will be a story of triumphs and defeats and peopled with characters. This story is precious. It tells something of the angle of travel of the church and the way God has been at work.’ (Steve Morris, Our Precious Lives [Milton Keynes: Authentic Media, 2020] p.213).

It makes sense to take time to really explore the good and the bad times and, of course, to repent when a church needs to. As well as the story of the church there is also the chance to spend more time listening to the stories of others – stories of people who have suffered the effects of racism and prejudice and those who have battled through amazing odds. The Bible reading is an exhortation from Paul to really spend time together, to get to know each other and to encourage each other. It is a beautiful picture of what church is, and can be. It is a place where we simply spend time without needing always to do ‘religious’ things. We can travel together as family, as storytellers and listeners and we will be all the stronger for it.

Prayer: 

Lord, help us to open our ears and make people welcome in church. Help us to make the time to listen to their stories. Help us to really commit ourselves to being present – to abiding with those in distress, without judgement. Help us to get a truer picture of our church and respond to this with due humility.

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