🎤 TREE 741: Use vs Tell

I used to be a preacher.

I used to hang out with a lot of preachers. Preachers like to tell stories. I’ve noticed two approaches preachers take to stories.

One is to have a point and then find a story that makes the point.

The other is to find a good story, spend time with it, try to figure out what it wants to tell you and then share it with the congregation.

I tried to work with stories the latter way. I probably fell into the former too often. That’s a shame, because telling a story builds a world for people. Using a story builds a cage for people.

As poor as our story defences are, I think it’s possible to tell the difference between a story that’s being used and a story that’s being told. Keep that in mind. Politicians and marketers love the power of stories as much as preachers and they are very likely to use them for building cages.

Storytellers, there is a world of difference between using a story to make a point or sell a subscription and telling a story because you believe a good story justifies its own existence.

Build worlds not cages.

Such an old school music video!

Grow slowly
Jeff

PS I wrote this before I listened to Rob Bell’s latest podcast episode. Same as last week when I wrote about the news and then listened to Rob talk about the news. Something’s in the air.