Practice saying these stories aloud, many times, and they will morph into your own words.
As soon as you finish telling a story IMMEDIATELY ask the first and second questions. And then the third.
- Did you like that?
- Was it interesting?
- Was there something particular that was interesting?
You might have to nudge your friends to get an answer to the third one, but soon they will be talking about the issues raised in the stories. Fuel the discussion with more questions. Such as:
- Do you know of situations like that?
- What do you notice in the story that is true about people?
- Sometimes a story tells us things about God. Does this story get you thinking about Him and who He is?
The whole point of the stories is to raise these questions.
Ask questions and you will learn. You will find yourself enjoying tension-free discussions, because your friends will indicate when they have finished sharing. At that point offer a verse and let things come to a natural end.
Having said this, I recently came across a couple who have another way of engaging with story-listeners. Very helpful insights.
You can write your own stories
- First, think about a topic or situation you would like to talk about, devise a story that will get your friends talking about that topic, and find a verse that summarizes or frames the topic.
- A short story is always best. (Although the Middle East and South Asian traditions use long stories which can included stories-within-stories. Play the videos below.)
- See if you can end with a surprise.
- Practice saying your story out loud, many times, and you will find a natural way to tell it.
- Write a transcript of what you said as you practiced, so all those little improvements, twists and good word-orders don’t get lost. Then share it with your friends and revise.
See how the Master storyteller does it
Here’s a story Jesus told, recorded verbatim in Mark 12. Notice how he:
- added descriptive details at the beginning, but not later when the messengers were being killed
- used repetition
- kept the main story line moving: only detailing what happened to the servants when the son was sent
- left the story uncompleted
- finished with a question about the story-end
- shared a verse to close the discussion
Here is his story.
Jesus then began: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.
“At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
“Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
“Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Mark 12:1-12
His peers used a similar structure
“Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
Mark 12:20-23 NIV
Be encouraged
The telling of stories is alive and well in the countries your friends came from. Here’s an example from Urdu-speaking North India. And below another, from Morocco.
Indian storyteller
Morocco storytellers
Listened to by millions in China
A Turkish masterpiece, still retold today
Translated from Turkish by the adventurous Michael Shelton in his much-appreciated collection of Nasreedin Jodja stories, which he has called “Once There Was. Twice There Wasn’t”.
A young boy burst into the teahouse and yelled, “Hasan is going to be executed!” Men leaped to their feet in shock, overturning glasses of hot tea. Others shouted questions over one another and called down curses on Emperor Tamerlane.
Despite the confusion, the story was quickly told. Hasan had been caught stealing bread from the bakery by one of the Emperor’s own soldiers. Emperor Tamerlane had already condemned him to a public execution.
Hasan was a poor and decent man who never stole but from hunger. Hasan had a wife and eight children. Hasan was Nasreddin Hodja’s cousin. For all these reasons Hasan had his countrymen’s sympathy. Nevertheless, there was little any of them could do but grumble into their tea about the unjust severity of his punishment. Hodja thumbed through a worn string of prayer beads, his eyes closed in deep thought.
Hodja’s friends noted his silence and tried to comfort him. “Come Hodja,” they said, “we know Hasan is a relative of yours but your hands are empty in this matter. There is nothing you can do.”
Nasreddin Hodja’s eyes flew open at their words. “On the contrary, in my hands I have all that I need.” Then he rose and visited the miserable Hasan in his prison cell. There Hodja quietly explained to his cousin what he must do.
The next day, Emperor Tamerlane and his retinue took seats behind the executioner’s block to enjoy the spectacle and were pleased to see that a crowd from the town had gathered. As Hasan was brought forward in chains, he suddenly reached into his pocket and called out, “Wait! I have a gift for the Emperor!”
The Emperor and his advisors were curious. No condemned man had ever said such a thing before. They all leaned forward to see what Hasan was holding in his hand.
“My Lord,” Hasan continued, “let me die this day if your justice demands but do not let this precious treasure pass from the world.”
Now everyone in the crowd was staring curiously at the string of beads in Hasan’s hand.
“These are no ordinary beads,” Hasan said in answer to their unspoken question. “They come from a holy dervish in the distant East who vowed to me that in the hands of a truly honest man they will turn into a string of diamonds. They are of no use to a thief like me, so I give them to you, my just Lord.” And Hasan offered the worn string of beads to Tamerlane.
Emperor Tamerlane hesitated. If he accepted the beads, everyone would be watching to see if they turned into diamonds in his hands. He remembered lands he had taken, innocent men he had condemned, and alliances he had broken. His were not honest hands.
But if he did not accept the beads, the people would guess the reason. What could he do? The crowd was already starting to murmur when the aged voice of Nasreddin Hodja called out, “Our generous Emperor wishes to show mercy!”
In a flash, Emperor Tamerlane saw what he must do. He raised his hand for silence and called out, “I cannot accept such a gift from one who may yet prove worthy of it. I hear by reduce your penalty to one month’s labor for the baker you have stolen from. Who knows but that honest labor may give you honest hands and I have diamonds enough.”
As the people cheered at this uncharacteristic display of wisdom and mercy from their harsh ruler, the Emperor, Hodja, and Hasan all sighed in relief: the Emperor for his honor, Hodja for his family, and Hasan for his life. It is said that Hasan turned out to be such a good worker that the baker not only forgave him his desperate theft but also hired him on permanently. In time, Hasan built a thriving bakery of his own to pass on to his sons.
As for the beads, Hasan returned them to his wise cousin. When his friends asked if the beads were truly magical, Hodja smiled and answered, “Who can say? For there are no flawless servants of Allah with which to put them to the test.”