Seth Godin points out that we typically try sell people on our ideas based on our own point-of-view, not our audiences. He concludes:

The challenge lies in helping them see your idea through their lens, not yours…. Marketers of successful ideas rarely market the facts. Instead, they market stories that match the worldview of the people being marketed to.

It is easy to see the validity of this when you consider that the Bible is largely story. It is a big story told through many smaller stories, and much more focus is given to stories then to dogma. And through these stories, we begin to see ourselves, to learn about ourselves, and to learn about God. In pondering how to better do what we do at Quest, I find myself considering the impact of story more and more. The trend in the 20th century was about teaching people facts and expecting them to change based on those facts. I expect the 21st century will find us focusing on building relationships and telling stories. We can’t understand another person’s worldview until we listen to them, building that relationship. And we can’t expect to change a person’s mind with facts. We can change a person’s worldview with stories, however. This approach, after all, has worked out okay for God for the last several millennia.