A few weeks ago those of you who joined us in worship got to hear from some amazing students that I have the privilege of working with in our confirmation class. We call our confirmation class here at Westminster Storyline for two major reasons: 1) The convention Ed and I go to every year gave away a ton of free graphics with the storyline title a few years ago, and more importantly 2) stories are critically important to our faith.

Think about it: wouldn’t God’s life have been so much easier if the Bible was just a set of rules, a list of “do this and don’t do that” that we could just turn to in the difficult times and know exactly what God wants? Surely God could even come up with an amendment process, so that if we crazy humans came up with a new way to break away from God, a few quick rules and regulations would be there to bring us back. Simple, straightforward, clean. But as we all know too well, that’s not the Bible we have. God chose to speak to us very specifically in stories, with real characters and real emotions and real conflict. God chose to work through some really messed up people to teach us how even we at our worst can have an impact for the kingdom. One of my favorite things to ask during a Veritas teaching is “Who do you most relate to in this story?” When we hear these stories from the Bible, we can pretty quickly place ourselves right in their midst. How cool is that?

This is why it is so disheartening when we as believers start to feel like no one would want to hear our stories. When we occasionally ask folks to tell us what God is doing in their lives, they shy away. Maybe it’s because the last story they heard from someone seemed so insanely miraculous that our little story pales in comparison. “Jimmy was rescued from drugs and alcohol because he found Jesus, but I only work 9-5 in cubicle world. Who wants to hear that story?” But the truth is, Jesus Christ is every bit as active in cubicle world as he is in the drug addict, as he is in the cancer patient, as he is in the grocery store encounter, as he is in the walk through the park we take with our families. Each of these stories is important in their own way. They’re all a part of the much larger story of faith that God is weaving together. And besides, we never know how stories are going to be received. What you perceive as lame or boring might be the word of encouragement that a brother or sister is thirsty for.

So for the month of May, we’re going to take a look at faith stories. Ed and I will be driving the ship for most of the month, sharing some of the crazy tales from our own lives as well as some of the stories we’ve been blessed to hear. But this is also an open call to all of you who read our blog. What has Jesus been doing in your life? What story of faith do you have to share with us? It can be a big marvelous story, a remarkably simple tale, or anything and everything in between. All you have to do is take a few minutes to write out your story, and then e-mail it to me at [email protected] and I’ll be in touch about how we get it on the blog. Stories are important. Let’s hear yours!