Once Upon a Time
Jesus references all His life lessons around stories.
Every person’s life is a story. Some stories serve as a strong warning to others, some provide an excellent template for others to copy.
You have a story and so do I. While we do not have the ability to determine the elements injected into our story, we can most certainly determine its outcome.
I was never big on the “WWJD” bracelet craze that swept the western world a few years ago. It quickly became faddish and trite, losing its intrinsic value.
But, the principle behind the maxim is solid. If we are to provide the kind of story that enhances the lives of others, it will happen because we measure our conversation and behaviour by the life patterns Jesus established.
It is not what happens around us, nor even what happens to us, that determines the quality of our story. It is whether we choose to respond to all life happenings within the context of Christ’s teaching.
The rank and file of humanity is not in need of another moralizing lecture. Nor do they need another judgmental critique of their unrighteous behaviour. They need examples, good stories of God’s grace.
People are desperately in need of genuine, attractive Christlike examples, living testimonials: stories of transformation in lives where Christ is preeminent.
The steadily encroaching liberalization of our Canadian culture has led to increasingly severe restrictions being placed upon our ‘freedom of speech’. I suspect it will get worse. What should we do? How will the Gospel advance? The way it always has! It will be perpetuated by the stories of the redeemed.
While Governments may be effective in their censorship initiatives and their attempts reshape the content of our sermons, they can never determine how we choose to live out our stories.
Our greatest influence on others, whether for good or bad, will come from the disclosure of our story. On every occasion, with each decision, integral to all conversations, we should be directed by the question, “what would Jesus do?”
The Apostle Paul said this:
For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross.
1 Corinthians 2:2 GNT
This posture presents quite a challenge to me because it wars against my human nature. But my ultimate desire is to be like Jesus and to be able to sum up my days with a story that is worth telling.
COVID-19 has helped me re-assess, re-calibrate and re-set.
Let me recommend a book that has helped me in this quest: The Calvary Road - Roy Hession
Al is an experienced pastor and counselor who works out of our ABNWT District Resource Centre in Edmonton as the Pastoral Care Coordinator. A pastor to the pastors, Al is a friend, mentor, and confidante to all.