As the traditional concept of family crumbles and more and more folks find themselves adrift and alone in the world, trying to navigate the complicated waters of modern thoughts on gender, family, and relationships, we as social creatures must belong and have relationships and social support, therefore we have formed little clumps of society based around common interests or lifestyles be it extreme sports, anime, or small dogs. What once were clubs and social organizations have become a substitute family, but much like the cliques in the public school lunch room, how does the nerd table communicate with the football players without getting their faces smashed? How does the local tea cup poodle enthusiast speak to the RPG guy in the next apartment over when her life is tied up in her dog and his online life is more full and exciting than his real one? Is there a language to span these impossible boundaries? A common tongue that all men understand?
It once might have been music, but music has become as isolating and clique-creating as any other hobby, pursuit, or art in recent decades. What some people consider music would be considered noise by others and vice versa, we cannot even reasonably agree on the definition of what is and is not music let alone use it as a universal language. That leaves story. We all live a story, even if it is a dull or depressing one. And we all want to have that story understood by and told to others. We all love a story, in whatever format, though sometimes we disagree on the medium we all agree that we love a well told tale. The RPG guy hopes to create his own story through the games he plays and the poodle lady tries to create significance and meaning by adding a character to her own tale. Different mediums, same struggle, hopes, and fears.
Jesus knew this full well, while our society is a mishmash of varying interests and associated 'tribes' and one is free to take up quilting or forego leopard geckos at any moment, in His day, you were pretty much stuck in the class into which you were born and you did not even touch or talk to anyone in a higher situation than your own, let alone aspire to join them while all the higher-ups spent most of their time looking down in derision on those they considered beneath them. You had the untouchables: lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans... You had the wretched: the poor and disabled. You had the Romans. Then you had the important people: the learned, the rich, the religious authorities. How could He reach them all when they wouldn't want to be in the same room together? He told stories. He broke down the barriers with a common language, enchanted them all, and drew some from every walk of life into His Kingdom where there are no such boundaries, just a vast crowd of unique children sitting enthralled at the feet of their Father listening to yet another vivid tale in His marvelous voice.
It's why we like movies, TV shows, video games, books...whatever our social structure or interests or language or culture, we have never moved beyond our love of stories. So the next time you find someone's behavior, taste, or lifestyle incomprehensible, maybe take a moment to listen to their story and maybe it will touch your own!
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