A Greater Story
Originally written March 2023
I love stories. They’ve always fascinated me. There’s something about the arc of the plot that is nearly addicting. I need to know how the story ends.
There’s a marketing theory here called the gap theory. This theory is the reason why movies create trailers and books have small excerpts on the back cover. These short sneak peaks give the reader or viewer a quick snip of the beginning, middle, and partial ending to the story they may or may not choose to spend their time on. The genius in the gap theory is that it is a play on psychology. Our minds, subconsciously, try to fill in the gaps.
In the same way, if you have a three-foot long string and you make three separate cuts in the string and make a one-inch space between the cuts, your mind will automatically look at those three separate cuts and follow them into one cohesive line. We do the same with stories. We try to fill in the blanks.
The reason why the gap theory works is that our brains create “theories” to fill in the “gaps” the trailer creates. Regardless of how good or bad the movie seems, our mind then wonders if we theorized correctly, so we go pay the $12 fee and $9 for the large popcorn and see the film.
Our lives, when broken down, are simply stories as well. We, of course, don’t know the end to our earthly stories. Our lives aren’t just one monotonous line, no, our stories are filled with peaks and valleys, highs and lows, love and heartbreak. As time progresses, we notice chapters, sections, and divisions beginning to form. Our stories develop into their own incredibly unique structure.
The cool part about this is that we have a role to play. Not only just “a” role, but “the” role. We’re the main characters of our own story. As Switchfoot so astutely pointed out, “this is your life, are you who you want to be?” Such a great question. And what if our answer is no, or not yet? What if we find ourselves in the middle of a hard chapter and we still have another 23 pages to read before we get to move forward, what then?
We’ve all watched a movie or read a book and found ourselves in the middle of a side storyline that was either boring or sad or for whatever reason we wished we’d just been able to skip it. Only to find out, in the end, that piece of the story was integral to the broader narrative, and if we had skipped it, we would have missed the grandeur of the larger story. We just didn’t know it at the time. Because sometimes the seemingly irrelevant thing at the time, turns out to be the cornerstone in the end.
Allow me to zoom us out a little farther. What if all our individual stories are part of a broader play. And our lives are necessary character development points that are taking place amidst a larger story. What if we’re role players, side acts, a supporting cast for a greater Individual? What if it’s not about us.
I don’t know about you, but this brings me a sense of freedom. I look outside and see a yellow highlighted wildflower and think of course this story isn’t about me. There’s too much beauty out there for my story to conclude so selfishly. As Believers, this is exactly what we believe. We believe that God has invited us, His creation, to participate in the greatest love story ever told. A story where the Author Himself steps into the narrative, becomes the protagonist and saves the broken vessels that chose against Him.
As the story develops, we see quickly it becomes less and less about us and more and more about Him. Ultimately, the story is here to reveal the Character of God. It’s an incredible story, because He gives the characters in His story agency to decide whether to believe in Him or not. To believe that He is in fact the Author. How we answer that question determines what role we play in the narrative.
And we are all playing a role. Even he who dismisses this all as hogwash and fairytales is playing a part in the revelatory arc of the Character of God. So, friend, where are you in the story? Are you bolstering the Name of Jesus through the power of your testimony. Pointing people to God out of a place of repentance and acceptance of who God is? Is this the first time you’ve heard of a Grander Narrative and that maybe you aren’t the main character? Does this idea bring about a sense of resentment and anger towards the Author?
Whichever camp you fall into, I want to encourage you before you pull out your pen and paper to consider your thoughts, go outside today, look around, and consider the question there – you just might find the Author amidst the rolling green hillside, in the chorus of the birds, or in the bright warmth of the sun.
