Storying

By storying, we mean communicating God’s great narrative to unbelievers for the purpose of attracting others to it. Storying is a wider idea that both includes and supports evangelism.

What is evangelism? Mack Stiles offers a concise definition: “Evangelism is teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade.” To evangelize is to teach. Of course, this does not mean only preaching or lecturing, but it does mean that clearly communicating and explaining the gospel is the priority of evangelism. Jesus prioritized teaching above all else in his earthly ministry (Mark 1:35-39). What do we teach? The gospel.

There is a “narrow” and a “wide” sense to the gospel in the Bible. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert explain:

In the narrow angle, the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The power of God for salvation is in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-11). But the power of the gospel and the gospel facts themselves do not make sense outside of the larger framework of biblical revelation that reveals why this power and those facts are needed. The basic storyline of Scripture situates the gospel in the story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Recreation.

Narrowly, the gospel’s facts fit into the “Redemption” category, but the gospel is also the overarching plot of the whole narrative. Storying includes teaching the “narrow” angle of the gospel, Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for sinners, and storying includes supporting these primary gospel truths by helping people see how the broader narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Recreation) make Christ’s gospel necessary.

If people do not understand the broader gospel narrative that reveals that they have been made by and for God, have fallen short of his glory, and await a new heavens and new earth that is only made possible by Christ, then the narrow gospel will not make much sense. Storying helps others put on new glasses, so they can see reality through the Bible’s grand narrative.

The definition of evangelism offered above also includes aiming to persuade others. Teaching people the gospel narrative is for the purpose of convicting them to turn from sin and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story that demands a response. So, what are the motivations for evangelism and the broader idea of storying? Richard Coekin summarized five reasons the Apostle Paul compelled Christians to engage in evangelism in 2 Corinthians 5:

1. Because we long to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9; Matthew 28:18-20).
2. Because we fear the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).
3. Out of gratitude to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
4. God has given us the ministry of reconciliation that has power to reconcile sinners to God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
5. Because now is the time of salvation where God is patient with the world and offers grace in Christ (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).

Practically, there are many helpful frameworks for approaching unbelievers. For storying, one author gives a helpful 3-step approach:

First, identify a person’s longings. They are living in God’s world and exist in his story, so they have desires that only he can satisfy.

Second, expose how those longings are being searched for in all the wrong places. Sin distorts our longings and bends us toward seeking their fulfillment in everything but God. Point them to the fall where man is in rebellion against God, in bondage to sin, and is broken because of it. This is why their longings only lead them to unmet fulfillment.

Third, point them to the “light of the gospel.” Christ comes to pay for all their sinful quests to find satisfaction outside of God and bring them back to God’s intended fulfillment of human desire: to be satisfied in God by worshipping and enjoying him forever.

This approach can be summarized in a sentence: Storying is helping people see the longings, the lies, and the light.