The Stories We Watch Change Us

We all watch shows.

It could be drama, science fiction, comedy, or even the news, and you could be watching it all on your television, or computer, or tablet, or phone. Yes, there’s a lot of variety to the whole thing.

But no matter what we watch or how we do so, there is still one thing that we all have in common: the stories we invest in affect us.

But it's not really that surprising, is it?

We have all heard of the doctor who spent his childhood re-enacting the many medical scenarios he found on the television.

We have all heard of the police officer who became one because one show or another helped her to dream about putting bad guys away.

But it goes deeper than mere profession.

What we watch as children (and even now as adults) shapes how we see other people and the role that we could potentially play in their lives.

Do you watch crime shows? Perhaps you see clues and evidence whenever you walk into a room.

Do you watch soap operas? Maybe you've more likely to jump to the assumption that most relationships are as fickle as those seen on The Days of Our Lives.

Good or bad, completely outlandish or completely believable, what we take in through our eyes and ears as we engage the storytellers of our time shapes our imagination and conditions us to take our place in the world around us.

Good or bad, completely outlandish or completely believable, what we take in through our eyes and ears as we engage the storytellers of our time shapes our imagination and conditions us to take our place in the world around us.

Believe it or not, but this is actually a good thing.

It means that every choice we make to spend time with stories that lift us up changes our interactions with others for the better.

And it also means that every moment that we have spent with Scripture—the greatest and truest story ever told—we are that much closer to seeing the world as God does.

And how does God see the world?

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son …” (John 3:16)

Yes, God loves you and He loves me. He loves everyone who brings you joy in life, and He even loves those who are practically the sackcloth (or hair shirt) for many others.

But more than that, God wants us to take part in the story that is going on even now.

He wants your words and actions to be a living image of what we read in the Bible, so that others who have never read that heavenly book, begin to understand what happened two thousand years ago.

And what was that?

One at a time, men and women became fascinated with a story as it was being lived out. The story made them want to change how they spoke, behaved, and interacted with the world around them.

And perhaps most telling is that they wanted the story to live on so that the world could live on.

Do yourself a favour tonight and don’t binge watch Netflix.

Read your Bible once again and learn about Peter, James, and John.

Learn about Mary and the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Get into the story and just imagine what tomorrow could be like if you just remember your part in it.

in Christ,

patrick