As it happens, the story is true.
Are you relieved?It’s amazing how the truth of an illustration carries such weight. Because a real man engaged in a real fight for his life, the audience feels his urgency. Their skin crawls. They experience the life-or-death struggle more keenly. Their stomachs churn. That’s because they can empathize with a real person unlike some hypothetical character in a made-up story. If I later admitted, “Actually, that never happened,” the illustration would shrivel to nothing. And any insights I might have connected to that illustration will have disintegrated along with it.If you have to use a story or a situation that isn’t true, say so up front. Otherwise, the audience will feel they have been deceived…because, in fact, they were.Do your research. The digital age has given each of us—even electric typewriter guys like me—unprecedented access to information, offering quick and easy access to the truth behind a story. I’ll give you a few examples of how good research impacted my use of some very popular stories I had used for years. Each example illustrates the power of truth and the value of going the extra mile to find it.When in doubt, disclose.One of my favorite illustrations helps to answer the question: “Why does God use people to accomplish His work when He can do everything without the help of anyone?” After each of the twentieth-century world wars, the great classical pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski held benefit concerts to raise money and awareness for the plight of his native Poland.One evening, the virtuoso stood in the wings, deep in thought, as the music hall filled to capacity. The gathering crowd included a mother hoping to encourage her young son’s progress at the piano. As the audience milled about, talking about politics, the two great wars, and the evening of music they would enjoy, she failed to notice that her son had slipped from her side and made his way to the piano onstage.Having mounted the bench, he began playing, note by single note “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” The simple tune could be heard throughout the hall, prompting laughter from some and shouts of righteous indignation from others. “Get that kid away from the piano!” one man shouted.The commotion drew Paderewski from his mental preparations to see the youngster still playing. He slipped quietly across the stage and bent down behind the boy and whispered in his ear, “Don’t stop; keep playing.” With his left hand the pianist filled in the bass, and he encircled the child with his right to play a running soprano obbligato. A sudden hush fell over the crowd as the little boy’s simple melody blended perfectly with the master’s glorious accompaniment, their impromptu duet holding the audience in rapt wonder.What a perfect picture of the Lord graciously using our meager efforts, surrounded and uplifted by His power, to create something beautiful! Unfortunately, I can find no evidence the incident ever took place. No newspaper clippings from the period. No credible eyewitness accounts. Nothing. Yet, I can’t find any reason to suggest it didn’t happen, either. Consequently, I’m not excited about using it. If I do, I will probably preface the story with a qualification:
