You Have a Powerful Story to Tell!
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Dear Friends,
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The emcee introduced the plenary speaker with the words that foretold what her message was going to be. He said, “Dr. McNeil has a story to tell. It will capture your hearts and give you hope.” With those words as her red carpet, Brenda Salter McNeil strode to the podium and began to share her story as a young African American woman growing up in an unforgiving culture.
Forty minutes later she had finished her testimony and encouraged all of us that if this skinny kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks could make it and become a successful and well-respected business woman, then anything is possible. It was a good talk. She had used the story of the woman at the well as a comparative text and declared that Jesus doesn’t see color or ethnicity or language or a sorry past when he looks us in the eyes.
She said, “Jesus sees us and sees the possibilities.” Now I know this is going to sound critical but I couldn’t help thinking that I had preached that same sermon many times. Don’t get me wrong. She was good. Her message was powerful. It spoke to the realities of the world we live in. Like so many of the speakers I’ve heard this week while attending Pastors Conventions, her story connected to where we are in our struggle to live life in the faith.
But I had to ask myself why her story was any better than the story you or I have to tell? The cynic in me came out in response to that question. The one common denominator in regard to all the speakers at this convention was the fact that they had all just published a book with Zondervan or one of the other sponsors of the conference. It wasn’t a coincidence that I have heard different speakers say at least a dozen times this week, “Like I wrote in my new book…”
It suddenly dawned on me that the major difference between these speakers and you and me, is that they have canonized their stories in a book. Regardless, Dr. McNeil was right. Jesus looks at us through the eyes of love and he changes us. Once he comes into our lives, once he meets us at the well of life, and we become a new creation. We are forever changed.
Like John Newton, the former slave ship captain who penned the words, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me,” we begin to write a new story with our lives. Here is the truth: Your story and my story are powerful testimonies to the fact that God is alive and well in the world today. Comedian Ben Stein is coming out with an awesome documentary several years ago titled, “Expelled.” Like Michael Moore and Al Gore, he does an expose that challenges the authorities.
Instead of going after politicians, Stein challenged those who say there is no God. In the end he points out that the reality of God can be seen in everyday life even if it can’t be measured in the laboratory. You and I know that already. We haven’t written a book but it is our story. Today I want to encourage you to tell that story. Share it with your friends and neighbors.
The world is looking for good news. I can’t think of better news than what God has done in your life and mine. It is real and it is every bit as powerful as what I heard from Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil. She was good but so are you. You have a powerful story to tell. So go ahead and share it.
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​See you in church.
Pastor Cal