It’s estimated that during Jesus’ day only 3% of people could read. How did the first century church get started by “unschooled ordinary men” (Acts 4:13). The early church had the stories they heard Jesus share, their own stories from being with Jesus each day, and Old Testament stories they had learned as children from their parents and rabbis. What if we taught the way Jesus did today?
What if today you were living in a place where there was no written language, no alphabet, no Bible, no Jesus film, no church, no missionaries, few believers, little if any education, and resistance to Christianity, how could you begin helping people connect to God? Through stories.
“But aren’t stories for children and dinner conversations? They’re entertainment.” If so, why did Jesus use them all the time? Why is that the main style the gospel writers included of Jesus’ teachings? Maybe there’s something beyond simply entertainment going on.
