The Big Story

Book excerpt: How would you explain your life to a stranger? When strangers meet today, they often ask not, "What do you do?" but, "What is your story?" Everybody on the planet believes some larger story in order to make sense of the smaller story of his or her life. We want our lives to fit within a larger plot—a plot full of history, forward movement, and future. So, the better question to ask is, "What sort of story are you in?" Most people believe false stories that leave them disillusioned, enslaved, and hopeless. Secular stories of chasing success and religious stories of doing good works leave us feeling exhausted and empty. Only Christianity offers a story that's big enough to make sense of both the beauty and brokenness in our lives and in our world.