Throughout the course of a week I watch a lot of videos because I’m always in search of Videos of the Week entries. A lot of the videos I come across are commercial efforts designed to sell something or someone, and as such, most videos tell a story.
Google product videos are a good example. This isn’t a demo about Google Chrome, it’s a sentimental narrative that whispers, “We’ll help you be a great dad in the 21st century”:
Or consider Google’s introduction of Project Glass, which whispers, “Our technology will catalyze meaningful human interactions in your life”:
Video game trailers are good examples too. Many of them, like the one I blogged about a while back, whisper, “Press start, be a hero”:
Videos aren’t the only media that tell stories of course. I saw someone assert the other day that the success of teen pop icons like Justin Bieber can be traced back to the narrative they constantly whisper to young women: “You’re beautiful and I’ll never leave you.” What other narrative could elicit such rabid devotion from a generation of girls eager to be loved?
I wonder what story your worship service will tell this weekend. Maybe it’ll be a story about legalism or shame or condemnation. Maybe it’ll be a story about how the outside world is poisoning our children and everything’s going to hell in a hand basket. Maybe it’ll be a story about a distant God and a stagnant people.
But you know you don’t have to settle for that junk. This weekend (and every day, really) we have the opportunity to tell a true story that trumps the promises of Google, Sony, and the Biebs.
The best part is that unlike those brands, we’re a body. We don’t have to sell, we just have to show. Whisper a good story this weekend and let it move people’s hearts and minds toward what God wants to do your in community.
That, my friends, is the best story.
Scott McClellan is the Editor of Echo Hub and the Director of Echo Conference. You can follow him on Twitter: @scottmcclellan.