The Power of Narrative #02 – the False Stories
Stories really matter. I think Darryl Tippens puts this well:
“A good story affects our values, identity, and minds in ways that a list of bare facts never can. One could say that it is the storytellers in any culture who have the greatest influence on the direction of a a culture, not the legislators, government leaders, or scholars” (Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life (Leafwood, 2006): 179).
This comment explains, of course, why television and movie producers have such power—as well as the Internet in all of its varied content.
What are the false stories that we hear today? I think James Bryan Smith makes brilliant observations on these throughout Good and Beautiful Life. I only wish that these false narratives had been compiled as a list by the editors! I had to cull them out one by one.
False Ideas About God
- God is good, you are bad, try harder.
- God is an angry judge and He would send us to hell; except His son Jesus stepped in and took the punishment for us.
- God is not trustworthy. He does not have our best interests at heart.
- God might not even care about sin at all.
False Ideas About Human Nature
- If you do well you will be blessed if you sin, you will be punished.
- You are only as valuable as what you produce.
- We change by our willpower.
- We work our way to God.
- Strength is found in domination and control.
- I am a sinner and can never change.
- Being overcomitted and busy is normal and to be expected.
Do all of these seem like false ideas to you? Many of them are very popular.
