Tips to Try
Helping the story do it’s job
told by John Walsh
The more experienced I become with the power of Bible stories, the more I realize how little help they need from me. In the past, I felt I needed to stand around and help out the Bible story by telling everyone what it meant. I guess I thought people would not “get it,” if I didn’t tell them the point.
A missionary told me about an experience he had. He had a tremendous ministry with the African people in their village, but he was going through a personal difficulty. The people in the village knew the missionary was struggling, and were praying for him.
One day, he was in his hut when three village elders came to visit. After the usual hospitality, the oldest man started telling a story. Immediately the missionary knew God was going to minister to his need through this story. He patiently waited for the elder to finish and tell him the wonderful point the story illustrated.
The elder told it well, and when he was finished the missionary waited for the point. Instead the three men stood, excused themselves, and left. He sat there dumbfounded. He wanted to cry out, “What was the point? I need the point of the story!”
For the next few days, he mulled over the story. It would not leave him alone. Suddenly the story became clear and God used it to give him the answer to his problem. It was then he realized, “The story was the point!”
You must understand, I believe in preaching and Bible study. These are a great source of spiritual growth and encouragement. I also believe in telling a Bible story and letting the Spirit of God use it in whatever way He wants.
It is like the pastor who preaches on stewardship and someone accepts Christ as Savior. The pastor does not say, “No, no, no. You can’t do that! You need to start giving more. Didn’t you hear what I was saying?”
A man once asked me, “If I don’t explain the Bible story, people may ask ‘What does it mean?’” I said, “Maybe that is what they should ask themselves. Maybe the story needs to dwell within their heart and do it’s work, without your commentary. You are wanting to do something the Bible doesn’t do. Most Bible stories come to us without explanation.”
I know this is Scriptural, because Jesus did it. He told stories and let them “cook” in the hearts of people. He even seemed a little perturbed when the disciples wanted the stories explained.
Once, I experimented with this. I took twelve people, sat them in a circle, and gave each a piece of paper. I said, “I am going to tell you a Bible story. You need to know I have a definite principle I am trying to communicate when I tell it, but I am not going to tell you what it is. As soon as I finish the story, I will sit down. I want you to write down the principle I am trying to communicate with this story.
I told the story without telling the point, though I thought I had made it quiet obvious. After I was done, I sat down and every one started writing. We went around the circle and everyone gave what they thought was the point of the story. Every person had interpreted it in a wonderful way, but they were all different. One pastor friend said, “Well, it’s obvious what it is.” He then gave us three points and a poem.
After everyone had told me what they had written, I said, “It’s amazing. Each of you got something different from the story, but you all missed my point in telling it.”
They looked at me and said, “Then, what was it?”
I said, “I’m not going to tell you! If I tell you, you will think you were wrong. You were not wrong; you got what the Spirit of God wanted you to get from His story. Besides, the Bible doesn’t tell us what the point is. Why should I?”
Don’t forget to check out our ‘Story of the Month’ as well
Check out the past five months of stories and tips