Storying to Postmoderns: The Story of the Gospel…

Date May 30, 2007 | 8:00 AM

In his book on preaching, Calvin Miller begins by emphasizing the genre of the scriptures. “The Bible begins with those primeval once-upon-a-time words bereshith bara elohim: ‘In the beginning God created.’ From that point on, for some thirteen hundred pages, the story unfolds till it reaches that simple Greek happy ever after amēn, erchou kurie iēsou: ‘Amen, come Lord Jesus.’ Between this grand Hebrew once upon a time and this Greek happy ever after is an engaging, forty-author tale.” [12]

At the Q Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in April 2007, Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, emphasized the role of the story of the gospel in postmodern culture. “Story is the most powerful way to teach and educate. The Bible itself is story after story. David’s five stones do not represent faith, hope, love, time and tithe—they’re just rocks. Even though the NT seems like bullet points, it isn’t. Our job is to tell a better story—the gospel—than simply parroting the story that the world is telling.” [13]

Likewise, Matthew Paul Turner, in his book The Coffeehouse Gospel, explains, “Each of our life stories represents a statement. And each of us has the option to make lots of different statements with our lives. God uses these ‘statements’ as testimonies to His faithfulness, mercy, and hope. Your personal connection to Christ speaks volumes, whether you think it does or not. It’s uncanny how much one’s ‘story’ can light a path for a lonely traveler who is looking for a truthful home or simply a place to stay for an evening.” [14]

Eugene Peterson, author of Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, explains, “Story is the most natural way of enlarging and deepening our sense of reality, and then enlisting us as participants in it. Stories open doors to areas or aspects of life that we didn’t know were there, or had quit noticing out of over-familiarity, or supposed were out-of-bounds for us. They then welcome us in. Stories are verbal acts of hospitality.” [15]

Nathan Creitz, a church planter and pastor in Boston, Massachusetts, describes the role of storytelling in his sermons. “Stories in a sermon captivate a postmodern audience. People need to hear how the gospel has changed your life and not just hear about some abstract thought. I believe that God is raising up a generation that is able to embrace teaching the way He taught—with stories. As a pastor, stories are also the easier parts of a message. If I think of my whole sermon as a story, I can usually communicate the message much more easily because it’s internalized and not just a collection of quotes and illustrations and application and exegesis.” [16] The consensus is that the gospel is a story, and it should be communicated as such.

The majority of the scriptures are in narrative and poetic form. Thus, the argument has been made that they should be communicated as such. Turner reminds his readers that Jesus’ method of communication was often in stories and parables. “Most of Jesus’ messages were delivered in the form of a narrative. He told stories so the average individual could comprehend His message. He knew that the best way for His message to spread was through His story. I believe that’s why Jesus only preached a few times throughout His ministry, and instead opted for the story approach to bearing witness to His Father.” [17]

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[12] Calvin Miller, Preaching: The Art of Narrative Exposition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: BakerBooks, 2006), 146.

[13] Donald Miller, “How Literature Shapes Culture,” Q Conference, 25 April 2007.

[14] Matthew Paul Turner, The Coffeehouse Gospel: Sharing Your Faith in Everyday Conversation (Lake Mary, Florida: Relevant Books, 2004), 66-67.

[15] Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005), 13.

[16] Nathan Creitz, interviewed by author, email, 30 April 2007.

[17] Turner, 76.
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Part 1 [05.26.07]: Introduction…
Part 2 [05.27.07]: Defining Postmodernity…
Part 3 [05.29.07]: The Gospel We Preach…
Part 4 [05.30.07]: The Story of the Gospel…
Part 5 [05.31.07]: The Celtic Way…
Part 6 [06.04.07]: Story Living…
Part 7 [06.06.07]: Bibliography…

Category Posted in Life, Missional, Missions, Pomo Storying Series

One Response to “Storying to Postmoderns: The Story of the Gospel…”

  1. mo said:

    I’m really enjoying this series Joe, very well thought out and presented. It’s also fun to see how it mirriors my recent series in many way even though our two programs are so very different.

    Anyway, this whole idea of reclaiming the art of storytelling is probably the most exciting thing to me about the whole postmodern movement. The Bible is full of exciting and thought provoking stories, some of which we have thrown out (for lack of a better term) because we just can’t figure out how to engage them with a modern, black and white viewpoint (David really took 200 Philistine foreskins…and this was pleasing to God?). But who doesn’t like a good story? If we go at spreading God’s word from that perspecitve it opens up a ton of new (old) doors for us to consider.

    May 31st, 2007 at 9:13 AM