We all live inside stories.
When someone’s seeking, trying to get to a point of resolution, trying to get answers, then the story of the Bible can come alive for them with new urgency and clarity. This is the most fruitful time in someone’s journey toward Jesus to dig into the stories of faith with them.
We’re following Jesus’ lead here; he taught using stories—specifcally, using parables. These stories are not just illustrations for prepositional ideas. They’re metaphors to *live inside of.*
We can share the parables of Jesus themselves, which have unique power to convey the reality of God’s kingdom.
We can also imitate Jesus by finding parables in our everyday lives and sharing them gently and earnestly with our friends who are seeking.
Sources: Mark 4:30-32 (NIV) Ezekiel 17:22-24 (NIV)
Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008). Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).
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