At the recent Kingdom Come Conference, bestselling author Stephen Mansfield issued a challenge that caught my attention: “We are in a battle of stories.”
In a time when secular culture is reshaping values and sacred truths are being sidelined, Mansfield reminded us that Christians aren’t just passive observers. We are stewards of a better story—the biblical narrative of the goodness of creation, the impact of the Fall, the miracle of redemption, and the promise of restoration. And that story gives us more to celebrate, more to say, and more to do.
Mansfield shared a surprising insight he picked up in Washington, DC, when asking why one side of the political aisle (the Left) seemed to have more influence. He realized that “they give better parties.”
At first, it seemed trivial. But the deeper point stuck with him, and with me. I also lived in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area for several years early in my career. As a graduate student surviving on a non-profit salary, I always knew I could get a nice meal if I knew which think tank was throwing a gala, which embassy was hosting a party, or which lobbying group was hosting a lunch or dinner event.
These organizations demonstrate great hospitality, but these events existed to celebrate the passage of a bill, the publication of a book, or the meeting of a fundraising goal. What are these compared to what Christians have to celebrate? Christian hospitality should be the most compelling invitation in our culture.
That doesn’t mean compromising truth or turning our churches into social clubs. It means recovering the vibrancy of our faith and letting it overflow. It means making space around our tables, in our churches, and at our workplaces for connection and celebration of what God has done for us.
We are stewards of a better story—the biblical narrative of the goodness of creation, the impact of the Fall, the miracle of redemption, and the promise of restoration.
One of the most vivid moments in Mansfield’s talk was his retelling of the Pilgrims’ voyage on the Mayflower. It wasn’t the sanitized version from your child’s Thanksgiving program at school. It was a journey defined by seasickness, storms, broken beams, and prayers lifted in desperation.
Mansfield’s point? “We have better stories than the world is trying to use to replace our stories,” he argued. But too often, we’ve stopped telling them, or we’ve only told the polished versions.
Author and podcaster, Allie Beth Stuckey, who also spoke at this year’s KCC, told the story of how first-century Christians were known for rescuing unwanted children. While the culture of the day thought it was acceptable to leave babies exposed to the elements to die, Christians saw these children as valuable, made in the image of God.
These stories are messy, in many cases, tragic. As believers, we don’t need to whitewash the past. In fact, we shouldn’t. We know the reality of the Fall, and we believe in redemption, and we are looking forward to complete restoration. We can tell the truth about slavery, injustice, and broken systems and about the faith, sacrifice, and courage that shaped so many parts of our history.
Stories are how we form our kids, lead in the classroom, speak at the dinner table, and engage our coworkers. The stories we tell shape the kind of people we become, and we have the best stories to tell.
Mansfield was clear that “we cannot rely on any other institution to tell our story for us.” We’re not just consumers of celebrations we attend or stories we hear. We are stewards, and that means we have work to do. This is the focus of IFC’s partner organization, the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, for which I serve as managing editor.
As Christians, we are called to work because it’s a fundamental part of God’s design for our lives. Work is not a result of the Fall. It is a reflection of the character of our Creator, who worked to bring the world into being and continues to sustain it, in whose image we are created. Too often, we view work merely as a means to a paycheck or as something to endure until the weekend. But Scripture tells a different story. Our daily labor can be an act of worship when we approach it with a heart to serve God and love our neighbor.
Compared to the world, we have more to celebrate, we have better stories to tell, and we can create more value and human flourishing through our work. We don’t have less to offer, indeed, we have so much more.
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