The Power of Story

One of the more recent trends in theology is the idea of narrative theology -- the notion that story plays an important role in our faith development. It's not just what the information says; it's how it's said. For us as Christians, the big idea is the Bible is a book which tells us a single grand story from cover to cover: God loves us enough to act in history to bring salvation to those who believe.

And it's true: that's the great message the Bible tells us from Genesis to Revelation. God has saved people throughout history: Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the Israelites, David, Jeremiah, the list goes on and on. And finally He came down in the Person of Jesus to bring salvation and deliverance one final time -- to include us in the story. As John 3:16 so famously says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." That's the story of our faith. If we convert it to bullet points, it loses some of its meaning and its power. But if we take it for the incredible love story it is, we capture more fully how deeply God has cared for His people for thousands of years.

Stories have always made impacts on people, always been able to convey deep personal truths far better than any textbook. We all have books and stories that helped shape us into who we are. The Bible is the ultimate shaping story. It alone gives us the one true account of salvation and redemption's bloody cost. It alone can mold our hearts into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit and teach us how to live as new creations. And it alone tells us our own place in God's story: a beloved bride waiting to go home.