All Preachers are Storytellers

Seth Godin called his last book All Marketers Are Liars. He wrote that an equally accurate but less exciting title would have been All Marketers are Storytellers. While less flashy, it’s more accurate. The book is all about the way we buy ideas. We don’t accept an idea based on the facts; we base an idea on a story.

If I were teaching a course on preaching or missional living, I’d probably include this book as a text. I’m becoming more convinced of the following:

• People are wired for story.
• The world is telling a story that most people buy without thinking, but it’s a false story.
• The roots of this false story can be found in Genesis 3.
• We can only counter the false story with a true story.
• We have a true story that is changing the world.

Godin writes:

Once [people] are able to see the effect that stories have on them, they’ll be in a much better position to believe the good ones and avoid the bad.

Could there be a better description for our task?

Godin concludes his book with some applications:

• Do you have a storytelling plan?
• Which worldview are you addressing?
• How will you live the story? (“Be authentic. Live the story.”)
• What hard decisions are you willing to make in order to keep your story real and pure and authentic? Compromise is the enemy of authenticity.
• What are the shortcuts your fans can use to tell the story to their friends? How can you help them frame that story?

I started reading this book because I like Seth Godin. This book ended up being one of the more profound ones in its implications about living in an alternate story – ultimately the one that can make all the difference.

What’s your story?