To pique someone’s interest. If there’s a compelling story, people will drop whatever they’re doing to keep up on the latest developments, and to even go check it out with their own eyes if they’re able.
Whenever Jesus shows up, he always leaves a story in his wake. It might be rather fantastic (like raising someone from the dead, for example), or it might seem more insignificant (like telling someone they’re sins are forgiven), but there’s still a story worth telling.
If you’ve encountered Jesus, don’t worry so much about the quality of your story, about how your story stacks up against other stories. Maybe don’t even think about whether your story is “good” or “great”—I suspect that it simply matters a whole lot more that it’s your story. Whatever you yourself have experienced of Jesus, just keep telling people about it.
Along the way there might be some pushback. People who want to shut down your story out of some strange sense of competition. After all, our stories create our realities, and some would prefer that the whole world live within their reality. You might even get that resistance from some religious folks. Ignore all that nonsense. As long as those who hear your story end up going out on their own in hopes of meeting Jesus for themselves, that’s a win.
