Churches: What’s Your Story?
Everybody has a story. A story about where you came from; how you got to where you are; your hopes and dreams for the future; your fears and sorrows. The stories we tell other people and the stories about ourselves we’d rather nobody knew.
There are as many stories as there are individual human beings. All unique and equally valuable and important. None of us choose our origins: our parents; our genetic make-up; the country and environment we were born into. But it’s hard to remember that when we are tempted to judge and condemn other people whose actions we find uncomfortable or even horrific.
When we look at the vast and overwhelming problems of the world and the complications of the moral and political choices being made, it is sometimes easier to dismiss or condemn whole sections of people. Journalists and media organisations try to find individual stories and images to bring home the reality of some situations we can so easily ignore. Pictures of a starving baby in Gaza break our hearts. Stories of heroism and courage give us hope. It’s the individual life stories and images which alert us to our shared humanity and ignite our compassion.
In the Gospels we hear about how Jesus listened to everyone and was able to get to the heart of the stories of the people he met. He was willing to see beyond the behaviours which other people judged and condemned. In one account in John’s Gospel, he stopped men from stoning to death a woman who had been ‘caught in adultery” - an offence which in Law demanded the death penalty.
Jesus confronted her would- be executioners by challenging anyone without sin to ‘cast the first stone’. In another example in Luke’s Gospel he challenged a Tax Collector named Zaccheus (known for his fraudulent practices) to give up his cheating ways and pay back what he owed (and more). In many other accounts he recognised the pain and trauma which people who came to him for healing were facing. He was always able to get to the heart of an individual’s story and respond with compassion and understanding.
Being judged for your story and your behaviour can lead to shame, embarrassment, fear and anxiety. Sometimes we just need to voice our story to someone else to get a different perspective and maybe to realise how similar we are to other people.
At the Bower House Christian Counselling Service we have trained counsellors who are willing to listen without judgement, to the pain, anxiety and anguish which can sometimes threaten to overwhelm us.
What’s your story?