Tim Keel wrote: “Throughout history people have told stories and been shaped by them, and in doing so they have discovered and constructed ways of understanding who they are and what is happening in the world around them.” [Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos]
The numbers on your weekend service tally sheet represent faces. Faces of men and women and children. And those faces hold stories. Personal and real stories. And while we may not get the opportunity to engage details of life stories with many folks on the weekend, we will walk away with stories.
Over the past few weeks I've heard stories - albeit shortened versions - of pain, loss, enormous joy, and quiet peace. I heard the story of a man who is literally dying; the cancer will take his life in just a few weeks. Another man told me the heart-wrenching, but inspiring story of his 35 year old brother who died just a week ago. I celebrated with a man who started a new job this week - after being out of work for a year. I needed to hear those stories as much as those sharing needed to tell the story. They help me look at my own life, and they help me take in what is really happening around me.
I want our teams to hear stories like those. Stories that take us past the task. Past the rush of getting everyone into the service. Past the pace of a four-service weekend. Stories that cause us to pause and thank God for the people we get to encounter, offer a cup of cold water in Jesus' name, to pray for as they hurry into the service.
There are other stories. Stories of our team members' God-moments with our guests. Moments that marked them. Moments that called the best out of them. Moments where they got to witness God at work - right in front of their eyes. Everyone needs to hear those stories. Stories that help us "get it" - God is using us to bring up there down here.
America's authority on story-telling, Robert McKee put it this way: "Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact."
Tell stories. And perhaps more importantly - listen to the stories of others. It is the ultimate human contact.
Have a story of hope and human touch to share from your weekend experiences? I'd love to hear it. Leave me a comment...
