When I was in high school drama class, our teacher often had us do an improvisational exercise called “One Word at a Time.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with what that is, here’s how it worked: The teacher had everyone sit in a circle, and then selected one of us to start the exercise. That person would say a single word, which became the first word of a story. The next person added a second word, the following person a third, and so on.

The object was to say your word as quickly as possible, so that it would sound like the entire group was telling one, seamless story. Incidentally, adverbs were not allowed, in order to keep up the pace and avoid delaying tactics.

At first, the stories were clumsy and simplistic. However, we soon got the hang of it, and before long we were churning out stories that none of us could have ever created on our own. In fact, that was the amazing part of the exercise. Every time you said a word, you usually had an idea of what word should follow it, but you had to be open to the possibility that the next person might take the story in an entirely different direction. And more often than not, they did—allowing the story to take on a life of its own … almost as if it were being guided by some outside force.

I think the church is a lot like that. We all play a part in telling the story, and yet, it does not belong to any one in particular. The plot is being shaped and guided by a force beyond us. Indeed, as I learned in my drama class, if one or two people try to take control of the story, they usually end up ruining it. The key, therefore, is to pay attention to what is being said around you and to be open to the surprising possibilities that the story itself will bring!