You are currently browsing the Bruce Smith weblog archives for the day 20. October 2009.
20. October 2009 by BruceSmith.
What a difference a good story makes
Stories. We love them, we live them. Some inspire us, some not so much. But we all have one. We all want to be part of one. Sometimes, the stories we are living are clear and compelling. Too often, the stories we see or live are less than epic and life giving.
Getting off a plane in Orlando this week, on my way to a conference and gearing up for a couple days of church leadership training and worship, I found myself thinking about the idea of story again. Wanting to follow up on what I had recently written regarding the stories we live, I had been thinking and taking notes on the plane ride over to Florida. With the creative juices flowing and my spirit all jacked up to write, I got to my hotel needing to eat, and looking for a spot to watch Monday Night Football for a bit before I jumped back into my studying and writing. And it was then, and there, in the hotel bar and cafe, that my story writing and thinking took on new life.
I had only been there, waiting for my food, amidst a crowd of clearly well to do and very successful people, for about ten minutes when I was officially “cougared” (if that is a word) by an an attractive fifty-something with more than a few “alterations”, pink leopard tights (no kidding), a tight fitting deeply cut sweater, and all too perfect skin (stretched perfect somehow). You get the picture, I think. Actually, it was an attempted “cougaring”, but a valid attempt nonetheless. She moved on to the bar tender very quickly, and gave her best effort on the guy who was, well, much younger than I for sure. Not sure how that one ended.
Just a couple minutes later, I was offered a chair by a more than friendly male in a very expensive suit with questionable motives. “This has been an interesting few minutes”, I thought to myself. And then, just a bit later, after eating and trying to make my way back to the room, while in the elevator, I was offered, by a too young too rich and too accomplished (and very drunk) trust fund baby, an invite to join in on a little pot smoking session. Yes, I declined. As another guy walked into the elevator, as I was leaving, his comment to his drinking buddy was, “Oh crap, its the wife calling. Do I have to answer this?” His buddy’s retort was, “I ignored the call from mine, get to it later…if you have to…we are in party mode! Let’s hit the bar.”
What a night! That was an active series of events by any standard. I knew then, this would be an interesting couple of days.
As I made it back to my room, and triple locked the door, I began to think to myself, going back into study and writing mode, “What kind of stories are those people living, really?” I thought about what life might look like for them internally, and relationally. Does life work with those ambitions and drives leading the way? I tried to play out the scenes in my head, even as I remembered the clear reality which shone in each of their eyes. Life did not look so fulfilling as I tried to see beyond the exterior. As I played the tape out realistically, my heart swelled with God-given grace, compassion, and sorrow, and I sincerely prayed that God might grant them the opportunity to find a bigger, better story…stories bigger than flings, drunkenness, the pursuit of wealth, and boundary-less living, even if each of them live that way only on the road. I have know many personally who live that way, and, sadly, those lives have never been characterized by meaning, significance or beauty. Far from it in reality.
The next morning I woke up, was running late, called a cab, and scrambled to get ready to make my way to the conference, which oddly enough, focused on leading unchurched people to consider a life of faith in Christ. The night before, in vivid fashion, I had seen just where people are and how adrift life is without Jesus at the helm. As I entered the auditorium, joining thousands of others, and with those and many others in mind, it was clear, really clear, this was a different place than I had been in last night, and this was a group with dramatically different stories. And what stories there were in this place! As I looked around, people watching, I wondered who these people were and from whence they came. What was their story?
As I spent the day meeting people, engaging in small groups and break out sessions between the large meeting events, I had the pleasure of hearing what God was doing in the lives of some very neat people. I had the conscious thought, “These people, by God’s grace, have been given the chance to live truly ‘storied’ lives”. And they were jumping in full throttle in many cases. Business people who were giving their own time and wealth to further the work of the church and the lives of others. Leaders who were giving their lives in prisons, soup kitchens, workplaces, teen venues, churches, juvenille detention centers, … .
Later in the evening, during a fantastic worship service, about twenty people were given the opportunity to share their journey to faith, their “faith story” as it were. And, again, the stories were amazing. One guy, after a life of rough living, lawless living, was thrown in prison, was there for a while, encountered a small group of Christians, came to faith in Christ, was prayed for one night at a meeting, and the very next day, unexpectedly was let out two years early! He is now living a vibrant life of faith and leading ministries in the church! What a story!! Another guy, who was a committed atheist for much of his life, was sexually abused as a child, hated most people in general, trusted no one, ignored his wife for twenty years, and rarely engaged anyone, came to faith in Jesus, found that he was able to forgive, saw his marriage renewed, was prayed for and received the ability to do portrait art (a talent he never had before), and now is living a vibrant joyous life of faith, and finding himself able to relate to others in healthy ways (a true miracle for him as he tells it).
The stories continued for a long long time. One woman, on drugs for depression for many years, sexually promiscuous and very lonely, feeling ugly and unworthy, and after having attempted suicide, came to faith in Christ, and now cannot stop leading others to Him with her infectious joy. Yet another woman, bright, educated, a psychoanalyst, after coming to faith, actually told of finally, for the first time, with a spiritual basis now undergirding her practice, feels like she can finally offer real healing to her patients after years of seeing her methods and thinking be very lacking in bringing about life change. She now feels more like she is living a story that matters than ever before.
There were many more great stories shared on this first night, too many to list. But so many were memorable. One couple, after living a dull, lonely, and average life at best, saw their marriage and life trajectories dramatically changed after both came to faith in Jesus and began to passionately pursue him together. They now are both actively engaged in the life of the church and in leading many to know God. After rejecting Christ for many years, they came to find He was actually the only one able to give them a story worth getting excited about, a marriage worth pursuing, and a life worth living.
At the end of day, as I write now, my heart is more hungry than ever to want all of God’s story which He has in mind for me. I, like you I am sure, long to be part of a story bigger than me. I want to live that epic life which I know He calls me to. I want to live more, love more, give more, know more, feel more, experience more, help more, educate more, inspire more, … I just want more of the story He wants for me. I want more in my family, in marriage, in ministry, in friendship, in writing, in meeting the needs of the poor, in ministering to those living broken lives. I want a life, and want to want it more, which clearly tells a story of God’s grace and love and transforming power. And I am more convinced today than I was yesterday, and hope to be more convinced tomorrow, and every day after that, that Jesus and the life He imparts to us, is the only way to living out that story. I want to embrace Him fully. He is my story.
So, here’s the bottom line. We all want a big story. We all desire to be filled with significance and meaning. Are we living a life which fuels that? Are our everyday encounters with others telling a story of a life ignited by God? When others fail us, is our response indicative of someone who has understood God’s story of love and patience and grace? When the bottom falls out are we confident enough in God’s story for us that we can trust that He has the road ahead already paved for us? When we are forced into new life directions and modes of behavior by the loving and strong hand of God, are we willing to let Jesus have His way in molding us and crafting His story for us? When He is moving us from the early days of knowing Him into deeper and more mature manners of living are we willing to let Him be Lord of our life, and not merely a “savior”? Are we ready to give Him all of it? Its the only way to a bigger and better story.
If we are to live a story of epic proportions it begins with submission to God’s call, and a wholehearted embrace of the life Jesus wants to design for us. Anything short of that will leave us wanting. What’s He calling you to? What’s He calling you away from? As I watched thousands of people today, all with a common story of God at work in them, I was struck how different the setting was. In a world awash in the throws of lust, pain, addiction, and all manner of emptiness, here were over 4,000 broken and healed people, people who had encountered Jesus, from all over the world, and after twelve hours of teaching, education, sharing, and learning, all they wanted to do was to stand, sing, raise their hands and hearts to God, and cry out to Him in thankfulness, hungering for more of His story. Twelve hours in, all this body of people touched by God wanted was more of Him. Now that’s a story worth being excited about.
What’s your story?
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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