Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Confessions of a Closet Christian 25: What Makes A Story Good and Which Story Do We Prefer?

Confessions of a Closet Christian 25: What Makes A Story Good and Which Story Do We Prefer?

Last updated on: February 23, 2016 at 10:40 pm by Christian Podcast Central

Confessions of a Closet Christian 25: What Makes A Story Good and Which Story Do We Prefer? 2016-02-23T22:40:13-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Confessions of a Closet Christian 25: What Makes A Story Good and Which Story Do We Prefer? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When I hear the word “story”, I think of something epic, adventurous and intriguing. There’s battle, sport, magic, and romance. There’s a beginning, middle and end and some sort of conflict.

But when I hear the word “Bible”, all that comes to mind is a heavy brick of a book full of strict rules with harsh and exclusive undertones and overtones. I don’t instinctively think of the Bible as a “good story”. I don’t think of it having battles, magic or romance.

But as I read it, it seems like the Israelites are always going to war with someone. Under God’s protective hand they’re always defeating a neighboring people and thousands of people are dying in the process. God always seems to be revealing some sort of miracle – a magical experience – to the Israelites, from the parting of the Red Sea to escape the Egyptians to the Walls of Jericho crashing to the sound of trumpets blaring. And isn’t there always some strapping dude trying to get some beautiful girl, like when Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, but gets stuck with Leah so then he has to work another seven years to get Rachel – the woman he loved.

I mean, the Bible is loaded with adventure. Then you add in the intrigue with Joseph being sold into slavery by his own brothers, David murdering Uriah to be with Bathsheba and Hosea marrying a prostitute – you have a pretty dramatic tale to tell.

And that’s just the Old Testament!

As in the movie, “Live of Pi”, (spoiler alert), we see a shipwrecked boy with a menagerie of animals, which slowly die until only the boy and the tiger remain. The narrator tells the tale of him bonding with the deadly tiger and even willing himself to survive in order to care for it. He describes this encounter with a magical island, enchanted with legions of meerkats and turning poisonous at night. When the boy finally reaches safety, he’s interviewed and tells of his experience. And he shares the detailed story of the tiger and the island – neither of which can be found or accounted for. The reporters insist that he tells them “the true story” – the story that people will believe. So the boy tells them a story that parallels his own: the group of animals becomes a group of people who go ballistic on a lifeboat and kill each other off until the boy is the only remaining survivor. There’s no tiger. There’s no magical island. The story is very practical. Simple. Believable.

When the narrator is finished recounting his tale, the interviewer asks, “So, THAT’S the true story?”

“Which story do you infer?” the narrator inquires.

“The one with the tiger.” The interviewer admits.

And so it is for Jesus. It’s easy to believe the story that says that there’s no God looking out for us. That miracles don’t happen. That God didn’t send his Son from heaven to live a perfect life and die so that the rest of humanity might be saved. It’s easy to believe that a story of love, miraculous signs, conspiracy, murder and resurrection never happened.

But which story to we prefer?

The one where all of humanity is offered a Savior, or the one without hope, and everyone is left to fend for themselves?

When I think about what makes a story good, it’s usually because something great happens at the end of the story. Something redemptive and hopeful comes out of all the suffering that the characters experience.

And so it is with life. Shouldn’t there be some sort of redemption and hope that comes out of the end of this life that we all trudge through?

And what if the Bible’s story were actually true?

What if we could be redeemed? What if someone saved us and the rest of humanity and all we had to do was believe that it was true?

The story can have one of two endings. I guess we just have to ask ourselves, “Which story do I prefer?”

For more encouraging and engaging podcasts and videos, check out the E-Squared Media Network at www.e2medianetwork.com

christian culture podcast

is the bible reliable

millennial generation

millennials

miracles

Moses

parting of the Red Sea

what does it mean to be born again?

Previous Post

June 3, 2014

The Daren Streblow Comedy Show Mini-Cast 56: Road Rage, Donna East & Marty Simpson

Next Post

June 4, 2014 The Summit Lecture Series 26: Is Christ the Only Way? part 6 with Brett Kunkle

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz