Chronological Bible storying

From Missiopedia

Back to Orality

[edit] Storytelling and the Gospel

If you follow sports you are familiar with the term, “getting back to the basics”. The term is used most often when a team is experiencing a slump. They are looking for a new approach to help them get back on the winning tract. What they discover in the process is they must get back to the fundamental basics that made them successful in the first place.

Chronological Bible Storying is a missiological “getting back to the basics” approach to evangelism. For decades missionaries have been using western methods in their approach to evangelism. What they have discovered is that evangelistic preaching alone was not penetrating the hearts of the unreached. There seemed to be a missing link in being able to connect the gospel with the culture of the people they were attempting to evangelize.

I use the phrase “back to the basics” because Chronological Bible Storying is not a new, novel invention of a missiological think tank. It was a method that was used by Jesus and the Apostles to convey spiritual truth. Reading through the gospels you see the gospel story unfold most often in story form. After the resurrection the risen Jesus was walking with two disciples on the Emmaus road. The Scripture says, “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Jesus started with the Old Testament events and tied them to the cross and the resurrection. We see the same approach with Stephen just before he was stoned and then Paul in his public discourses as he ties the gospel story back to prophets. This point is clearly illustrated in the popular video produced by New Tribes Missions called EE-Taow! The Mouk Story. The story chronicles how chronological storying developed by missionary Mark Zook, changed the lives of the Mouk people in Papua New Guinea. Mark took several months to methodically tell and illustrate the stories of the Bible beginning with Genesis and culminating with the Cross. When the gospel was presented the whole tribe repented and trusted Christ. Through the process of telling the stories of the Bible this tribe of illiterate people understood their need for a Savior

The power of this method of evangelism is deeper than just, “people of all cultures like to hear a good story.” It is tied to the fact that the theme of Scripture is redemption. The redemptive story of salvation is clearly seen throughout the Bible. Chronological Storytelling is the art of telling that redemptive story starting with the Genesis account of creation and continuing through to the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is a process of allowing the hearer to experience how all of scripture links together to tell of God’s love and provision for their sin.

When a culture, void of any exposure to the scripture, hears Bible stories in a methodical and chronological sequence the story of the cross makes perfect sense. One of the amazing aspects of this approach is when the gospel story is told in this manner cultural parallels are discovered. God has built into the stories of the Bible certain elements that allow the hearer in any culture to identify with the one or more characters, therefore seeing their need of a Savior. We are hearing reports of missionaries that were searching for that cultural key to reaching a certain people group. Through the chronological sequence of Bible storying the cultural key would surface. That is a God thing.

DAWN Ministries list several positive reasons why Bible storying is an excellent strategy:

• Over 2/3 of the world’s population (4+ billion) receive the majority of their information through oral communication * [1].
• Over 1/3 of the world’s population (2+ billion) receive information only through oral communication.
• 75% of the unreached and least reached only receive information orally.
• In the Islamic world, over 95% of all women can only be reached through oral communication because they have never been taught to read.
• Traditional Western models of communication among the unreached are typically relevant only to the 10% literate elite. The oral Bible model speaks directly through and to the 90%.

[edit] Ministries Involved

• EPIC: committed to training and equipping all of our church planters in Chronological Storytelling. We have incorporated a sequence of training that will eventually result in equipping our church planters with over 120 Bible stories. The long range goal is to equip them with over 300 Bible stories. Recently an experienced storying trainer told us that to master 300 Bible stories would render someone a walking Bible. Our objective is not to produce walking Bibles but to equip the church planter to reach primarily functionally illiterate people. The barrier of not having the Scripture printed in their heart language and not being able to read is removed and the gospel can be presented in an interesting and effective manner. And the best part – it can be replicated.