A Compelling Story is Worth More Than a Banana
I recently stumbled upon an intriguing story. Someone bought a banana at a Manhattan grocery store for 35 cents, duct-taped it to a wall in an art studio, and sold it to a cryptocurrency investor in China for $6.2 million. Yes, this actually happened.
This true tale led me to some serious pondering. Maybe I’ve been thinking too small.
The Challenge of Perspective
Christian schools vary in size and resources. Some operate with annual budgets well under $1 million, carefully balancing expenses to fund teacher salaries, scholarships, and basic operations. Others have multi-million-dollar budgets, offering extensive programs, state-of-the-art facilities, and a wide array of extracurricular opportunities. No matter the budget, the story of the banana offers a powerful perspective check.
If someone can pay $6.2 million for a banana on a wall because they’re inspired by the idea behind it, how much more compelling is the story of what God is doing in and through your school?
Thinking Bigger Without Losing Sight of the Mission
This isn’t about chasing flashy projects or measuring success by what looks impressive. Christian schools are called to something deeper. Success isn’t about the size of your budget or the grandeur of your facilities. It’s about fidelity to the mission, and being a blessing to those students and families entrusted to you.
Yet, that doesn’t mean thinking small. It means thinking bigger in ways that align with God’s purposes. It means telling the story of your school in a way that inspires others to see how God is equipping students to be immense blessings in their families, churches, communities, workplaces, and around the world.
Perspective, Anyone?
Let’s do some playful math to put things in context:
For a smaller school with a budget under $1 million, the cost of one banana could fund the entire school’s operations for years.
For a larger school with a $5 million annual budget, two bananas might endow key programs or provide scholarships for hundreds of students.
For schools of all sizes, anywhere from less than a banana to two or three bananas could fund a major building project: a new gymnasium, chapel, or performance space…depending on the scale and location.
These examples aren’t just playful. They are a a reminder that what may seem impossible is often within reach when we recognize the value of God’s work in our schools and share that story in a way that inspires others.
Why Story Matters
Fundraising isn’t just about asking for money. It’s about building authentic relationships, sharing a vision, and inviting people to be part of making that vision a reality. It’s about telling the story of how God is working in your school through students, teachers, and families…and inviting others to become part of that story.
When you tell that story faithfully, you’re not just inviting others to support a budget. You’re inviting them to invest in a mission that changes lives.
The world is full of people willing to give when they are inspired by a compelling vision. If a banana on a wall can inspire someone to pay $6.2 million, how much more inspiring is the story of a school where students are being shaped by the Gospel, and who go on to serve and love others?
A Challenge to Dream Big
Dreaming big for your Christian school isn’t about chasing glory or recognition. It’s about trusting that God’s work in your school is worth sharing boldly and humbly. It’s about inviting others to join in that work, not because your school needs to impress anyone, but because it is a place where God is forming lives that will bless many.
So, the next time you eat a banana, let it remind you of the power of a compelling story. Let it inspire you to think bigger, not for the sake of your school’s reputation…but for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
After all, what God is doing through your school is worth far more than a banana on a wall.
Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.
The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I often use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.
I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.
I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.
What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):
I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word—not even to use and then cite it.
I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.
I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.