How Do We Tell the Story (Telling the Story of God VI)

How do we become artful storytellers? How do we tell the good news—of the suffering God who saves us from sin and death—well? The Scripture tells us explicitly to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”[1] How do we make ourselves ready?

In Scripture, we read about people suddenly asking, “What must I do to be saved?”, or “What does this Scripture passage mean?”[2] Imagine, in a more modern context, that you’re in the lobby of a skyscraper and you get on the elevator with someone who just found out that you’re a Jesus-follower. They turn to you and say, “Okay, so tell me why you’re a Christian.” You’ve got sixty seconds from the lobby to the fiftieth floor, where this person is getting off. They’re flying to Shanghai right after, and you don’t know if you’re ever going to see them again. Pretend you can’t get their email or their cell phone number or ask them out for coffee. What do you say?

This is similar to what happened to me a few weeks ago, on an Uber ride to LAX. My driver found out I was a pastor and asked me, “What do you believe? Tell me why you believe it. And tell me what you think happens when we die.” I had a minute or two before he dropped me off at American Airlines. I said: Our problem is death; it’s the great human problem. God knows this and God loves us so much that He sent Jesus into the world to confront and destroy death and show us what it means to truly live. He invites us to become His followers and to be saved from our selfishness, self-absorption, and our violent and destructive ways (what the Bible calls “sin”), so that we can truly live and so we can love others as He does. We are meant to become like Him! The only way this is possible is through His love, grace, and mercy, and by following Him wholeheartedly. What do I think happens when we die? Well, I think we are eternal beings who are not limited by the death of our physical bodies, so our lives carry on (in some way we can’t fully conceive on this side of things). How we live and the choices we make now are, therefore, of eternal importance.

Actually, I bumbled around quite a bit and I can’t quite remember my exact words, but I hope this close to what I said. The guy sort of nodded his head, and that was the end of it. Then I got on a plane and flew to Orlando, because that’s life: a strange mash-up of mundane moments—getting ready in the morning, car rides, airport drop-offs—all the while we human beings carry eternal questions, like raging fires, around in our hearts: Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going? “Being prepared,” then, is urgent work. Presencing hope always is, because every human heart needs to know the reality of the suffering God who comes to save us.

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[1] I Peter 3:15.

[2] Acts 16:30, Acts 8:34.