Jan
20
Written by:
host
1/20/2010 7:00 AM
Two couples go out to dinner together. At the end of the evening, each person gives an account of the evening. Not surprisingly, although there are similarities between the accounts, each story is different. Details and conversations that are prominent in one person’s retelling may be completely absent or just a minor mention in another’s version. (For those of you who were fans of the TV show "thirtysomething", this storyline was used in one of the episodes during the first season.) Point of view affects the interpretation and memory of events. No two people have exactly the same point of view. Hearing the same story told from different perspectives can help give a more complete understanding of what happened. This process can be used with Bible stories both as a way to gain new insights and as a method of keeping children, youth or adults interested in a story they may have heard many times before.
The idea is straightforward. Choose a story from the Bible and tell it from as many different points of view as you can think of. First, read the Bible story together as a large group. Have the group brainstorm for all the people in the story, those who are named, as well as those who are not named or may not even be mentioned. Invite each person (or small group if you have a large class) choose a character in the story. (Alternatively, you can do this step ahead of time and assign persons to each individual or small group.)
For example, for the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-14), the story could be told from the point of view of Jesus, one of the disciples, the little boy, the little boy’s mother, someone in the crowd, a person who wasn’t there but heard the story from their brother the next day, and so forth. You get the idea. Use your imagination!
Encourage each person to reread the Bible story and consider the story from the specific point of view of their assigned character. After providing time for working, have each person or group tell the story from their assigned point of view. The story may be written out and read, or told extemporaneously.
After each person or group has shared, discuss the experience as a group, using the following questions and/or other questions that occur to you.
- How did the stories differ?
- Which point of view did you find yourself relating to most easily?
- Were there questions that came into your mind as you heard the story retold?
- Did you hear any ideas mentioned that had not occurred to you before?
- What does this story tell us about God?
- What does this story tell us about God’s relationship with human beings?
At the end of the class, you might ask participants whether they found the activity useful. However, keep in mind that each person’s answer will vary depending on his or her point of view.
~Sally Hoelscher
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