In the United States, a typical adult is familiar with the basics of the Bible, such as Adam and Eve, heaven and hell, and Jesus’ death and resurrection. In this context, presenting the gospel in a coherent way can often be done in a matter of minutes. However, in an unreached, minority context, the predominant worldview may bear little resemblance to reality as understood in God’s Word. In such places, there is an enormous foundation to be laid before the work of Christ and the call to repentance and faith can be presented. How do you effectively share the gospel with someone from this context, someone for whom the idea of a personal God, or even monotheism itself, may be foreign and difficult to grasp?
Part of our training includes practice preparing and presenting a sequential series of Bible story lessons to communicate the gospel to an audience that is unfamiliar with its basic foundations. We’ve seen the value of this approach to evangelism, especially in unreached contexts.
Though we appreciate systematic theology and the benefits that come with it, teaching the gospel through the biblical narrative rather than as a series of theological principles offers the following advantages: it uses the preferred learning style of much of the world; this form of teaching tends to be more engaging and interesting; and it also tends to be more memorable.
The majority of Scripture is written in narrative style. If God, in His inspired Word, has chosen to communicate this message of the gospel predominantly through stories, then it’s only natural for messengers of the gospel to communicate in this way as well. Paul exemplifies this type of teaching in several places in Acts. For example, in Acts 13:13–52, Paul preaches the gospel to a Jewish audience, starting with Israel's slavery in Egypt. He walks through the period of the Judges, Samuel, and King David, before arriving at Jesus, the offspring of David (2 Sam 7:12–17), Abraham (Gen 12, 15, 17), and Eve (Gen 3:15), who saves us from our sin. In Acts 17:16-33, in Athens, Paul takes a similar approach using the storyline of Scripture, but with this Gentile audience, he starts from the beginning. Indeed, without a firm grasp of Genesis 1-3, listeners may fundamentally misunderstand who God is, his character, and what humanity’s greatest problem is.
We're thankful to have studied and practiced this form of evangelism in preparation for the field. May we have the privilege of someday teaching the gospel through the biblical narrative to those who have never heard.
