Story...
Not goals, story...
As a young first time church planter in the 80’s, I was deeply impacted by a great Jack Hayford quote “What we have achieved, we stumbled onto”. I love that quote. In those days it empowered me as a young planter filled with idealism yet loaded with ignorance. Today I love it as it reflects the organic humility that reveals a life that is Spirit led ( sometimes it was also a great cover for confusion, chaos and prophetic intrigue).
However the ‘business’ shadow that has cast itself over church life and community adventure, has saddened me. So called ministry plans, goal setting and project planning have become the default buttons to many a church planter. There is huge pressure to spell things out at the beginning of the year to vision cast our way into the year. But may I be bold enough to ask where is this biblical precedent? Is this more Tony Robbins than Paul or Peter?
Let's have a different conversation.
“Ideas are the currency of the twenty-first century. In the information age, the knowledge economy, you are only as valuable as your ideas. Story is the means by which we transfer those ideas to one another. Your ability to package your ideas with emotion, context, and relevancy is the one skill that will make you more valuable in the next decade... Storytelling is the act of framing an idea as a narrative to inform, illuminate and inspire.” Carmine Gallo.
“Ideas are the currency of the twenty-first century. In the information age, the knowledge economy, you are only as valuable as your ideas. Story is the means by which we transfer those ideas to one another. Your ability to package your ideas with emotion, context, and relevancy is the one skill that will make you more valuable in the next decade... Storytelling is the act of framing an idea as a narrative to inform, illuminate and inspire.” Carmine Gallo.
I want to present a different thought. Jesus was a storyteller. He drew everyone into a different narrative...his good news was a new message that produced a new kingdom allegiance, that was advancing. This kingdom is violent, requiring great courage, bravery and tenacity...it sounds like a Game of Thrones rendition, except this time it is not a game, but a true eternal combat narrative. “The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing, and violent ‘men’ take hold of it” Matt 11:12.
Paul was a storyteller. It is remarkable how often he told Israel’s story or his own. Theology was expressed in narrative. The Bible is the great story of God and the men and women who stumbled their way in obedience or rebellion.
May I suggest, we might not offer our people a plan (so many people by June, so many Missional Communities, so many bands, so many campuses, so many services...).
Paul was a storyteller. It is remarkable how often he told Israel’s story or his own. Theology was expressed in narrative. The Bible is the great story of God and the men and women who stumbled their way in obedience or rebellion.
May I suggest, we might not offer our people a plan (so many people by June, so many Missional Communities, so many bands, so many campuses, so many services...).
Rather let's tell them a story...
The Bushmen storytellers “learnt that they had to deliver information, convey experiences, inspire and entertain” Carmine Gallo
“Stories told by firelight (of the Kalahari desert tribes) put listeners on the same emotional wavelength, elicit understanding, trust, and sympathy and built positive reputations with qualities like humor, congeniality and innovation,” University of Utah anthropology professor Polly Weissner.
In the 1700’s the Hasidic form of Judaism was faltering, “Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760), the founder of Hasidism, revived Eastern European Judaism, infusing it with holy joy, and he also revived storytelling. One of the ways he and the rabbis who followed him, attracted people to the new movement, was by storytelling. But what made hasidic storytelling different for Jews have always told religious stories? The answer is that only Hasidism vigorously encouraged storytelling, moving it from the periphery to the center of Judaism”. (From a Hasidic website I read). Now all these years later, in spite of severe persecution and attempts of extermination, this Jewish brand of orthodoxy has held firm, they suggest, due to the centrality of their storytelling - look at what God has done for us!
The Bushmen storytellers “learnt that they had to deliver information, convey experiences, inspire and entertain” Carmine Gallo
“Stories told by firelight (of the Kalahari desert tribes) put listeners on the same emotional wavelength, elicit understanding, trust, and sympathy and built positive reputations with qualities like humor, congeniality and innovation,” University of Utah anthropology professor Polly Weissner.
In the 1700’s the Hasidic form of Judaism was faltering, “Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760), the founder of Hasidism, revived Eastern European Judaism, infusing it with holy joy, and he also revived storytelling. One of the ways he and the rabbis who followed him, attracted people to the new movement, was by storytelling. But what made hasidic storytelling different for Jews have always told religious stories? The answer is that only Hasidism vigorously encouraged storytelling, moving it from the periphery to the center of Judaism”. (From a Hasidic website I read). Now all these years later, in spite of severe persecution and attempts of extermination, this Jewish brand of orthodoxy has held firm, they suggest, due to the centrality of their storytelling - look at what God has done for us!
The six speeches that Winston Churchill made in 1940, are often referred to as the most thrilling examples of turning a broken defeated nation into one who would find the courage to create a new narrative, no matter what the cost. Boris Johnson, recent mayor of London, wrote a very stirring account of Churchill. It is well documented that his speeches were well crafted, efficiently rehearsed, and soberly presented.
Johnson wrote: “to lead the country in time of war, to keep people together at a moment of profound anxiety, you need to connect with them at a deep emotional way. It was not enough to appeal to the logic of defiance. He couldn't just exhort them to be brave. He needed to engage their attention, to cheer them, boost them; if necessary to make them laugh and better still, to laugh at their enemies. To move the British people, he needed at some level to identify with them- with those aspects of their characters that he and they, conceived to be elemental to the national psyche”
As an example, Churchill crafted a new narrative. Rather than give them goals (we will beat Hitler by the Fall) offered a new story “If we stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister and perhaps, more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This is their finest hour’”. Winston Churchill.
Whilst the language may not be familiar words of the 21st century, very few speeches call everyone to something that matters, something that costs, something that is compelling, something transcendent.
My dear fellow church planter, become a storyteller like Jesus, like the Bible itself. Ditch the poor principle, purpose driven language of the 1990s. Rather, craft your art. Butts in pews is not compelling. More ‘community groups’, is not compelling. More money weekly, is not compelling. Letting the few perform and the many watch, is not compelling.
Living a life of sacrifice for a transcendent narrative, that is compelling. Investing in a story that goes beyond one generation, that enlarges our children, is compelling. Empowering the many to be essential to this battle of the ages, is compelling. Providing a biblical dream that has global implications, is compelling. Offering a supernatural gospel adventure, is compelling.
What is your story?
Whilst the language may not be familiar words of the 21st century, very few speeches call everyone to something that matters, something that costs, something that is compelling, something transcendent.
My dear fellow church planter, become a storyteller like Jesus, like the Bible itself. Ditch the poor principle, purpose driven language of the 1990s. Rather, craft your art. Butts in pews is not compelling. More ‘community groups’, is not compelling. More money weekly, is not compelling. Letting the few perform and the many watch, is not compelling.
Living a life of sacrifice for a transcendent narrative, that is compelling. Investing in a story that goes beyond one generation, that enlarges our children, is compelling. Empowering the many to be essential to this battle of the ages, is compelling. Providing a biblical dream that has global implications, is compelling. Offering a supernatural gospel adventure, is compelling.
What is your story?
Where have you all come from?
Why have you been joined together?
How is Jesus captivating in your story, and how is your community compelling?
Who are your heroes?
Who are the villains?
What are your battle assignments? And the next step?
What are your great battles fought, scars sustained and victories won?
How is Jesus captivating in your story, and how is your community compelling?
Who are your heroes?
Who are the villains?
What are your battle assignments? And the next step?
What are your great battles fought, scars sustained and victories won?
When and where has God intervened miraculously?
What makes your heart sing? What is your song and sound of victory?
Kinda sounds like the Bible, doesn't it?
Some final quotes:
Peter Guber (the chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group) wrote “listeners are rarely hooked if they don't sense some compelling challenge in the beginning. They don't stay engaged if they're not excited by the struggle in the middle. And they won't remember or act on the story unless they feel galvanized by its final resolution”.
“Millenials place far greater emphasis on purpose, passion and meaning. They want to work with teams of like-minded people who are connected to something bigger than themselves. They are inspired by leaders who tell stories that infuse their (companies) with purpose and meaning” Carmine Gallo
What makes your heart sing? What is your song and sound of victory?
Kinda sounds like the Bible, doesn't it?
Some final quotes:
Peter Guber (the chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group) wrote “listeners are rarely hooked if they don't sense some compelling challenge in the beginning. They don't stay engaged if they're not excited by the struggle in the middle. And they won't remember or act on the story unless they feel galvanized by its final resolution”.
“Millenials place far greater emphasis on purpose, passion and meaning. They want to work with teams of like-minded people who are connected to something bigger than themselves. They are inspired by leaders who tell stories that infuse their (companies) with purpose and meaning” Carmine Gallo
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