I've long been a lover of story-telling. I think I really got
into it when I was in the 7th grade -- about 13 years old -- in Mrs.
Ream's English class. Back then, it was stupid stories about action
heroes who battled and belittled a popular boy-band of the era (the New
Kids on the Block). But it was a start.
In college, I majoried in Communications and minored in Creative Writing. And even when I wasn't studying, I really enjoyed videography as an avenue for story-telling (the Roving Paramedics being the prime example of this phenomenon). Story-telling just seemed to be in my genetic make-up.
But then I went into full-time Christian ministry.
A Wasted Education in Story-Telling?
In the late 1990s, when this career transition happened for me, I felt like all Christians (and especially Christian workers) were categorically disinclined towards reading (or writing) fiction. It was seen to be a waste of time. The books that most Christians seemed to like reading were case studies in apologetics, like Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ" or "Case for Faith"... Or they were books about self-discovery, like Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Life" or John Eldridge's "Wild at Heart." To a smaller degree, some Christians were into sociological- or anthropological studies, like Leonard Sweet's "Soul Tsunami" or Robert E. Webber's "Younger Evangelicals"... Or of course, there were (and have always been) books about the best theories for starting or growing churches (I could probably name off a couple dozen books in this category). I read all these different kinds of books -- and I genuinely benefitted from what they had to share -- but I always felt kind of guilty because I didn't seem to naturally soak up that kind of reading as much as my colleagues and contemporaries did. I read those types of books as a type of "continuing education," but I enjoyed them about as much as I enjoyed my academic textbooks from my university years.
If it was up to me, I much preferred the latest novel by Douglas Coupland or a nice collection of short stories by various authors. These felt more entertaining to me -- but also more inspiring, and I might even say more instructive. But as someone working in full-time Christian ministry, I always felt kind of sheepish about these preferences. And over time, I even came to feel embarrassed that I had "only" studied Communications and Creative Writing. Like these had nothing to do with Christian ministry, and I could have just as easily trained to become a zoo-keeper.
Reclaiming the Power of Story
For whatever reason, I've been noticing a cultural trend within Christendom over the last couple of years: a sort of return to story-telling. Actually, I think it's happening in the culture at large, too. Have you noticed it? Have you picked up on any kind of a return to story-telling?
For whatever reason, a number of different external sources have stimulated my awareness of this phenomenon. One of these was Douglas Coupland's book: Generation A, which "champions the act of reading and storytelling as one of the few defenses we still have against the constant bombardment of the senses in a digital world." I might add that the book does this in a really interesting and provocative way. Around the same time that I was finishing with Coupland's novel, I read something that Amber van Schooneveld posted about story-telling, literary critique, and "children's books." She makes a brilliant case for story-telling that jives very much with what I've been noticing and what was brought up in Coupland's book. And then, just an hour after reading the piece from Amber van Schooneveld, I stumbled across a beautiful description of the story-telling powers of the Bible, written by Gerard Kelly. And through all of these stories about stories, my enthusiasm has continued to build and build.
I still don't know exactly what to do with these observations or these enthusiastic feelings. Of course, I can keep delighting in the story of the Bible. I can use my church's pulpit as a forum for biblical story-telling (while not neglecting other important parts of preaching, of course). And I can keep tinkering around with my own stories here on the internet (and hopefully soon in more widely-published places).
For now, though, more than anything I'm just thinking, wondering, and feeling... almost like I'm back in Mrs. Ream's 7th grade English class.
In college, I majoried in Communications and minored in Creative Writing. And even when I wasn't studying, I really enjoyed videography as an avenue for story-telling (the Roving Paramedics being the prime example of this phenomenon). Story-telling just seemed to be in my genetic make-up.
But then I went into full-time Christian ministry.
A Wasted Education in Story-Telling?
In the late 1990s, when this career transition happened for me, I felt like all Christians (and especially Christian workers) were categorically disinclined towards reading (or writing) fiction. It was seen to be a waste of time. The books that most Christians seemed to like reading were case studies in apologetics, like Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ" or "Case for Faith"... Or they were books about self-discovery, like Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Life" or John Eldridge's "Wild at Heart." To a smaller degree, some Christians were into sociological- or anthropological studies, like Leonard Sweet's "Soul Tsunami" or Robert E. Webber's "Younger Evangelicals"... Or of course, there were (and have always been) books about the best theories for starting or growing churches (I could probably name off a couple dozen books in this category). I read all these different kinds of books -- and I genuinely benefitted from what they had to share -- but I always felt kind of guilty because I didn't seem to naturally soak up that kind of reading as much as my colleagues and contemporaries did. I read those types of books as a type of "continuing education," but I enjoyed them about as much as I enjoyed my academic textbooks from my university years.
If it was up to me, I much preferred the latest novel by Douglas Coupland or a nice collection of short stories by various authors. These felt more entertaining to me -- but also more inspiring, and I might even say more instructive. But as someone working in full-time Christian ministry, I always felt kind of sheepish about these preferences. And over time, I even came to feel embarrassed that I had "only" studied Communications and Creative Writing. Like these had nothing to do with Christian ministry, and I could have just as easily trained to become a zoo-keeper.
Reclaiming the Power of Story
For whatever reason, I've been noticing a cultural trend within Christendom over the last couple of years: a sort of return to story-telling. Actually, I think it's happening in the culture at large, too. Have you noticed it? Have you picked up on any kind of a return to story-telling?
For whatever reason, a number of different external sources have stimulated my awareness of this phenomenon. One of these was Douglas Coupland's book: Generation A, which "champions the act of reading and storytelling as one of the few defenses we still have against the constant bombardment of the senses in a digital world." I might add that the book does this in a really interesting and provocative way. Around the same time that I was finishing with Coupland's novel, I read something that Amber van Schooneveld posted about story-telling, literary critique, and "children's books." She makes a brilliant case for story-telling that jives very much with what I've been noticing and what was brought up in Coupland's book. And then, just an hour after reading the piece from Amber van Schooneveld, I stumbled across a beautiful description of the story-telling powers of the Bible, written by Gerard Kelly. And through all of these stories about stories, my enthusiasm has continued to build and build.
I still don't know exactly what to do with these observations or these enthusiastic feelings. Of course, I can keep delighting in the story of the Bible. I can use my church's pulpit as a forum for biblical story-telling (while not neglecting other important parts of preaching, of course). And I can keep tinkering around with my own stories here on the internet (and hopefully soon in more widely-published places).
For now, though, more than anything I'm just thinking, wondering, and feeling... almost like I'm back in Mrs. Ream's 7th grade English class.
Eric, I'm sure you'll be interested in this report on a study showing how reading fiction improves empathy, although I'd doubt any of us needed a study to prove this. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/07/reading-fiction-empathy-study
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