Stories That Shape Us

“Then Jesus told them this parable…”

Recent claims by researchers and developers that artificial intelligence poses a threat to human life have raised alarm bells. How credible these warnings are, I do not know. However, when it comes to AI Technology, there is another threat that concerns me: the threat AI poses to human story.

Fragmented digital experiences and algorithmic-driven content are increasingly pushing traditional stories out of the picture. For instance, many secondary schools no longer teach long-form classical texts. Teachers may choose shorter and simpler books for GCSE English Literature because they make it easier for students to pass exams. No doubt this approach can produce competent test-takers and good qualifications. But what might be lost? The older and harder task of reading deeply, inhabiting a story, and allowing the stories we read to cultivate virtue and to shape our understanding of what it means to be human.

Stories should do more than merely entertain us. A good story gives us a way of seeing the world. The great stories stay with us because, in some sense, we continue to live with them long after we have finished reading them.

Jesus was a master storyteller. His parables have captivated readers and hearers for 2,000 years. The characters within them – the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the pharisee and the tax collector - are widely known, even outside the church. Yet, we must not be mistaken: Jesus’ parables are not always as simple and easy to understand as we assume. Jesus told his disciples that his parables contain the “secret of the kingdom of God.” He also quoted the prophet Isaiah, saying that “many indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand” (Mark 4:11-12). His stories invite us to look again at the world, and at ourselves. Sometimes they comfort us. Sometimes they unsettle us. Often they reveal that the people we thought were the heroes are not quite who we expected, and that the kingdom of God does not operate according to the assumptions we bring with us.

In Sunday Worship throughout the month of October, we’ll be exploring and reflecting on some of the parables Jesus told. As we do so, my hope is not simply that we will become more familiar with some of the best-known stories in the Bible. Rather, I hope that we will allow Jesus’ stories to do their work on us: to challenge our assumptions, deepen our understanding, and shape the way we see God, ourselves, and our neighbours.

In a world increasingly filled with noise, fragments, and endless new content, perhaps we need to recover the ancient discipline of listening to a story. And, above all, of listening to the stories Jesus told.