In any story, well-developed, complex characters drive the plotline. But our stories are unique because they bear the mark of God. Scotty Smith writes,
“God is telling an authentic, non-spin story of selfish, broken people, who are in the process of being made new by Jesus. That’s why Jesus has the lead role in God’s Story. But He’s not the only character. He’s making us characters too. We are carriers of God’s Story – targets for hope who’ll serve as agents of hope, and candidates of mercy who’ll live as conduits of mercy. Jesus is bringing restoration to broken individuals as a means of bringing healing to other individuals, families, communities, and ultimately, to the whole universe.” (Restoring Broken Things)
Because God has made us characters who are carriers of His story, we must carefully consider the people and relationships in our stories. No person, no interaction with a person, can be random – each one, whether an apparently good or evil influence, has been written there by God to further His purposes. Think of a question people commonly ask you – “How did you…decide to go to Washington state for seminary when you live in Florida?….know you wanted to be a carpenter when you grew up? ….meet your best friend?” The answers to these questions involve story, but they also involve characters. Here is an example of a way to answer by naming the characters who were agents of hope in our lives.
How did I come to know Christ?
My brother and I were not raised in a Christian home, but through a series of circumstances, we ended up attending a Christian school when I was an 8th grader and he was a 10th grader. My brother met Christians who invited him to Young Life and told him about confirmation. He decided that he and I should be confirmed in the Episcopal church (where we had attended occasionally), even though we were both older than most of the communicants. Then he began to take me to Young Life meetings. At Young Life meetings I met older high school students who were attractive and compelling because they were kind to an underclassman. I met three leaders, Judy, Millie, and Susan, who took an interest in my life. One weekend at Windy Gap a very ‘cute’ man (in the eyes of a 15-yr-old girl) spoke to us about Christ. I didn’t decide to become a Christian only because I had a schoolgirl crush on the speaker, though that was a draw☺! I did say to God, “I want what these people have!” As I think of how God led me to himself, I have a long list of names and faces that I remember: Bob, Martha, Anne, Judy, Steve, and many more.
We should think about the names of the characters in our stories, beginning with our own. We can begin by considering simply the names we are called, for often those carry a story. I am “Elizabeth,” named after Queen Elizabeth, because my father was a Shakespeare professor who taught people about “Elizabethan England.” Do you know why you are called what you are called? Many of us have nicknames, and some of us have been renamed. The Bible gives precedent for the significance of given names and renaming: Abram renamed Abraham (avram – “exalted father” to aviraham – “father of a multitude”); Ishmael (“God has heard”); Saul renamed Paul after his conversion. Names of all sorts give clues to unique characteristics and to ways we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus.
Think about it: What are some of the names of people who have been agents of hope in your story? How were they involved in the plot of your life?