Sharing My Story

Some people reading this will think that a Comic book
convention is probably the most superfical waste of
time and money one can expend. If you perceive
manifestations of mass media like movies, science fiction
/fantasy literature, internet web sites, comic books,
role playing games, videos, video gaaming, TV programs
as mere leisure time entertainment that has little
connection with real life then going to a convention
like this is meaningless.

And yet what draws 100000 people to an four day
event like this? The traditional Christian response
to this sort of thing is that people are trying to fill
up their lives with things (even good things) that
don’t ultimately satisfy. Certainly this is still true
with the present generation’s(s) immersion into the
mass media culture be it internet or IPods or HD
Television or instant Cel phone communication.
The emphasis on the continuing cascade of electronic
gadgets can cloud the real issues. The real issue is
what kind of content do these gadgets deliver.
In some ways probably the content is not a lot
different from previous generations.

And yet we are supposedly in the post modern
generation(s) that accepts the importance of
experience over concrete fact. The new generations
are fascinated by narrative—story telling. That is
the heart of how to reach the new generations.

Christians need to be thinking of narrative of
story telling when we attempt to communicate
Biblical truths. And the Bible is filled with
narratives both in the New and the Old Testaments.
The importance of movies or the internet or comic
books are they are forms of communication the
post modern generation(s) accept. They communicate
in forms the rising generations can relate too.
Christians of the post modern generation (and hip
oldsters) need to begin thinking in narrative as we
attempt to present the truths of the Christian gospel
to those who will be movers and shakers of our world
in the next few decades.