stories, gospel, evangelism, narrative theology
Memorizing Stories or, sharing the gospel off the top of your head.
01/02/08 11:08 Filed in: Mission
I would wager that if asked the question, “How
well do you know the “gospel” by heart?” most of
us would raise our hand. I bet we would even
think that we would have the best chance at
knowing it but also the best chance at really not
being able to communicate it all that clearly in
1 minute or less.
Get out your stop watch, wrist watch, or complete weather, directional, and multi-functional Axis Highgear camping phenom watch and time yourself. A quick shot. You’re on the bus, a conversation has struck up between you and a kid you don’t even know. You have one minute. Introduce to them the gospel. A nugget, leave them with something or the whole thing. Go.
It’ll be rough, not perfect, and I bet I would fail as well. Just not as bad. Change the situation. You have two minutes. You’re in a conversation before class. A friend says, “I just don’t get why we make such a big deal about Jesus’ death. Why is it so important anyway?” Go.
The idea isn’t to embarrass. It’s to expose a need. The need to know and internalize the Gospel in different forms, in different ways, for different venues, and different people. The four laws is a complete, clear and effective way to share the gospel so that someone can understand and respond if time allows. But sometimes time doesn’t allow and you don’t have a four laws in your pocket. So then what? Peter says to be prepared in the HUB and out of the HUB. Without your discipler and with your discipler. Translation mine.
Jesus was the ultimate story teller and he told stories to illustrate a point about the kingdom, or salvation, or God’s love. I want you to look at a few.
Luke is filled with stories. Let’s look at three. Luke 14:15-24, Luke 15:11-31, Luke 18:9-14. Read these stories and pull out some concepts or ideas Jesus was trying to get across. Not just the obvious ones, but see if you can extract some lessons within the lessons.
Some questions to ponder. Why did Jesus tell stories? What stories did he tell and how did he tell them? For example, the story of the prodigal son. Why did he tell that story and how do you imagine he communicated it? 90% percent of communication is non-verbals or something like that. Imagine what Jesus’ non-verbals were like. Other than being the son of God, why was he able to tell good stories/illustrations?
The take away is this. We should know these stories and be able to tell them well. At the very basic level, we should be able to present to someone a clear illustration of what God’s love is like, what his son is like, and what the kingdom is like. We have some stories that can help you do that. Share with them How Death Shows Love, and the Indian Chief. Take any illustration of Jesus’ and make them modern. He didn’t copyright them, use them. Also, the best way to do this, is to internalize the message. And one way we can do that is to memorize it. And the easiest tool to use would be the Four Laws. If you can master and memorize that, you’re on your way to being a master story teller.
SO, here’s your assignment. Memorize the Four Laws. Take a week and memorize the whole stinking thing. Eat it, chew on it, carry the book around until it tatters in your back pocket and it is hardly recognizable to anyone and you are forced to repeat it to them verbally and without error.
If you accomplish that, memorize the two illustrations found on the Compass about how death shows love. When you’ve mastered that, take an illustration Jesus used and see if you can adapt it for our time. And on the way, if you’re able to share them with someone, anyone, go ahead. Trust the Holy Spirit to speak through you. He’s had them memorized for a while now. He could show you some pointers.
Get out your stop watch, wrist watch, or complete weather, directional, and multi-functional Axis Highgear camping phenom watch and time yourself. A quick shot. You’re on the bus, a conversation has struck up between you and a kid you don’t even know. You have one minute. Introduce to them the gospel. A nugget, leave them with something or the whole thing. Go.
It’ll be rough, not perfect, and I bet I would fail as well. Just not as bad. Change the situation. You have two minutes. You’re in a conversation before class. A friend says, “I just don’t get why we make such a big deal about Jesus’ death. Why is it so important anyway?” Go.
The idea isn’t to embarrass. It’s to expose a need. The need to know and internalize the Gospel in different forms, in different ways, for different venues, and different people. The four laws is a complete, clear and effective way to share the gospel so that someone can understand and respond if time allows. But sometimes time doesn’t allow and you don’t have a four laws in your pocket. So then what? Peter says to be prepared in the HUB and out of the HUB. Without your discipler and with your discipler. Translation mine.
Jesus was the ultimate story teller and he told stories to illustrate a point about the kingdom, or salvation, or God’s love. I want you to look at a few.
Luke is filled with stories. Let’s look at three. Luke 14:15-24, Luke 15:11-31, Luke 18:9-14. Read these stories and pull out some concepts or ideas Jesus was trying to get across. Not just the obvious ones, but see if you can extract some lessons within the lessons.
Some questions to ponder. Why did Jesus tell stories? What stories did he tell and how did he tell them? For example, the story of the prodigal son. Why did he tell that story and how do you imagine he communicated it? 90% percent of communication is non-verbals or something like that. Imagine what Jesus’ non-verbals were like. Other than being the son of God, why was he able to tell good stories/illustrations?
The take away is this. We should know these stories and be able to tell them well. At the very basic level, we should be able to present to someone a clear illustration of what God’s love is like, what his son is like, and what the kingdom is like. We have some stories that can help you do that. Share with them How Death Shows Love, and the Indian Chief. Take any illustration of Jesus’ and make them modern. He didn’t copyright them, use them. Also, the best way to do this, is to internalize the message. And one way we can do that is to memorize it. And the easiest tool to use would be the Four Laws. If you can master and memorize that, you’re on your way to being a master story teller.
SO, here’s your assignment. Memorize the Four Laws. Take a week and memorize the whole stinking thing. Eat it, chew on it, carry the book around until it tatters in your back pocket and it is hardly recognizable to anyone and you are forced to repeat it to them verbally and without error.
If you accomplish that, memorize the two illustrations found on the Compass about how death shows love. When you’ve mastered that, take an illustration Jesus used and see if you can adapt it for our time. And on the way, if you’re able to share them with someone, anyone, go ahead. Trust the Holy Spirit to speak through you. He’s had them memorized for a while now. He could show you some pointers.
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