The Final Question Is…? Or, How to Close a Bible Storying Discussion

By Jenny Giezendanner

“So what have you learned today?” We tell Bible stories so people learn and change. We ask questions to help them learn and change. For Bible storying and similar types of group devotions, one common approach to interacting with listeners follows the sequence of observation, interpretation, and then application. First, the facilitator asks questions to ensure that everyone in the group is tracking with the key facts of the story. During the interpretation stage, the facilitator stimulates the group into exploring the meaning behind the actions taken in the story. Finally, for the application, the facilitator asks the learners to think about how they will implement their new insights in their own lives. The rationale for this approach stems from the apostle James himself: looking in a mirror certainly doesn’t help unless the viewer takes fitting action! (James 1:22-25)

In another approach to leading a discussion of oral Bible stories the storyer uses a standard set of “five questions.” This practice has the advantage that the questions become easy to remember and are always ready to use. A disadvantage emerges as well: these five questions may not relate naturally to every story, so good storyers find they must carefully adapt them to individual stories after all. The repeated same five questions may also become boring for some listeners.

Yet another, more serious, deficiency is inherent in both the “five questions” and the observation, interpretation, application series. It leads to what I call the “guilt-trip syndrome” of Bible study. After a steady stream of sessions ending with application or “What will I do with what I have just learned?” a listener may see his slow progress in making all those applications accumulate. The many ways in which his life still falls short is growing, even if he is trying hard! The resulting cognitive dissonance and frustration become increasingly discouraging.

A believer, seeker, or accidental participant in a Bible storying session is rightly challenged to see the relevance of God’s Word to his or her life. But is this the only or even the main reason for sharing God’s wonderful truth with her? And is it a respectful and effective process? I don’t think so. The Bible and its amazing story of God’s love for mankind is first of all a story about God Himself.  He seeks to be honoured and appreciated for His glorious works, His loving heart, and His great sacrifice in Jesus Christ. He wants us to embrace His forgiveness, listen carefully to His Holy Spirit, and stand in awe of His power. And He wants all this to overflow into the lives of other people around us. Therefore, the best final question is simply about God. In all kinds of variations possible, it should be something like, “How does this passage reveal what an amazing God we have?” or “What do we see now about God’s character that impresses us most?” or “What do you now appreciate about God that you never saw In any presentation, it is the opening and the closing that stick longest. As we lead others through the beautiful stories of Scripture, let us end our sessions by stopping together to marvel and meditate on God Himself. In taking our eyes off ourselves the One who loves us changes us. It is good to “think on these things."

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It's All about The Story

The university where I teach, Houston Baptist University, is hosting a consultation this week for the International Orality Network. I will be attending the consultation and learning all I can regarding this new and important missions emphasis that recognizes that most of the world consists of people who are oral preference learners. What excites me about the movement is that they focus on sharing the gospel by learning to tell great stories from the Bible in the mother language of the unreached people. This is exactly what we hoped to do with The Voice Bible.

One of the articles I read in preparation for the consultation is from Tom A. Steffen, former professor at Biola University and missionary for 20 years in the Philippines. In an article entitled, “Why Communicate the Gospel through Stories?” Steffen tells his own story about trying to teach new believers a simple version of systematic theology in the Ifugao language (one of Philippine dialects). Basically, his teaching fell flat because he insisted on relating the content using a western model of education, that is, teaching propositions and concepts. When he saw it wasn’t working, he decided to join his content with some wonderful stories from the Old Testament. He told stories of creation, the fall, Cain and Abel, the flood, and other stories on his way to telling the Jesus story. Once Steffen switched from teaching propositions and concepts to stories, the people caught on, got excited, and began to catch the essence of God’s redemptive love and purposes for the world.

I’ve said all along that human beings are hard-wired to tell stories. God has built that into our minds and hearts. So we are at our bests when we do tell stories. And we are good at it. Go on a trip and have something interesting happen to you and you can’t wait to tell someone. You call your best friend and tell them what happened. You put it on facebook. You may tweet it out. The point is that we are great producers and consumers of stories.

In the article I read Steffen quoted a statistic which I did know. I probably could have guessed at these numbers and gotten close but it is good to see it in print by someone who knows. Here is what he said: the Scriptures contain three kinds of literature: stories, poetry, and thought-organized material. Stories make up 75% of the Bible. Poetry makes up 15%. And thought-organized comprises the remaining 10%. By thought-organized he was referring to a good bit of Paul’s letters that make logical, linear arguments. But as N. T. Wright and others have pointed out, a lot of Paul’s theologizing involves retelling the essentially Jewish story around Jesus; so for Paul Jesus is the climax of the covenant story. In other words, even when Paul is making an argument for a particular idea (e.g., the resurrection of Jesus, the centrality of the cross) he is nibbling around the edges of narrative.
Amazing isn’t it that God chose primarily to reveal himself to us in these marvelous stories. I would have probably guessed that poetry was a higher percentage. I’d be interested to know how these decisions were made. For example, of Job’s 40+ chapters, all but 2 ½ are poetry. But Job’s poetry still tells a story. We might call it poetic narratives. The creation “story” in Genesis 1 is very poetic in its form. So how are these classified? I don’t know. And what about all the Proverbs, were they classified as poetry? I think they probably should have been because they are written in Hebrew poetic style.

It excites me to think is that in doing The Voice Bible we did something very different from other translations. We invited story-tellers, novelists, poets, and song-writers to help us retell the stories and poetry of Scripture. Scholars are very good at the technical bits of translation but we aren’t good at telling a story or of capturing the beauty and rhythm of a good poem. That’s why I think The Voice Bible has come of age when it has; we are moving deeper into a digital age that still recognizes the value of orality. Some scholars have taken to calling it a “digitoral age.” (I’m grateful to Dr. Samuel Chiang, executive director of the International Orality Network, for this useful term.) Too often we’ve tried to analyze the biblical stories using western logic to break them down into (4) points all beginning with the letter “P.” This way of preaching and teaching has had a tendency to obscure the story and make it hard to remember. Storytelling—God’s preferred method—has a way of capturing both the heart and mind for the sake of kingdom purposes.

If you’d like to know more about the International Orality Network, check out their website: http://www.orality.net/ 

Source:
Blog by David B. Capes
http://www.DavidBCapes.com/2014/07/07/Its-All-About-The-Story/ 

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Using heart language to transform hearts is resulting in churches in many difficult parts of the world. Breakthroughs with indigenous partnership formations have resulted in brand new Bible stories in an oral format to reach the unreached. Detail $4.95 Shipping charges apply http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/3138/page/1 

CS-BEYONDLIT  Beyond Literate Western Models: Contextualizing Theological Education in Oral Contexts

Beyond Literate Western Models harvests the best insights from the 2012 Orality Consultation by bringing into one volume the insights of theological educators and experts on oral cultures from around the world. It addresses a wide range of practical...  Original price: $14.95 Detail $11.50 Shipping charges apply http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/4327/page/1 

CS-LEARNERS1 Making Disciples of Oral Learners

Around 70% of the world's population communicates mainly by stories, proverbs, drama, songs, poetry and chants which all happens in a face-to-face context. The majority of remaining unreached people groups cannot read or write.  Detail  $4.95  Shipping charges apply  http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/1477/page/1 

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DVD-TELLING Telling God's Story DVD

Need a creative way to present the Following Jesus Series? With this DVD you can customize the experience for your church setting. Videos included on this DVD: Knock, Knock and So Many Faces India video: Reaching the Unreached...  Original price: $4.95 Detail  $2.50 Shipping charges apply http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/2014/page/1 

CS-LEARNERS1AUDIO Making Disciples of Oral Learners Audio Book

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CS-LEARNERS1 Making Disciples of Oral Learners

Around 70% of the world's population communicates mainly by stories, proverbs, drama, songs, poetry and chants which all happens in a face-to-face context. The majority of remaining unreached people groups cannot read or write. Detail  $4.95  Shipping charges apply  http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/1477/page/1 

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Around 70% of the world's population communicates mainly by stories, proverbs, drama, songs, poetry and chants which all happens in a face-to-face context. Because oral learners tend to believe persons more than abstract truths, the spiritual li...  Detail   $4.95   Shipping charges apply http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/2458/page/1 

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Around 70% of the world's population communicates mainly by stories, proverbs, drama, songs, poetry and chants which all happens in a face-to-face context. Because oral learners tend to believe persons more than abstract truths, the spiritual li...Shipping charges apply.   Detail  $4.95  http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/2490/page/1

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Beyond Literate Western Models: Contextualizing Theological Education in Oral Contexts (2013)

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Product Description - Beyond Literate Western Models harvests the best insights from the 2012 Orality Consultation by bringing into one volume the insights of theological educators and experts on oral cultures from around the world. It addresses a wide range of practical issues, such as training methods, the relationship of non-formal education to traditional formal theological education programs and the importance of the narrative structure of the Bible. It describes how theological education can empower oral learners and leaders, especially in the rapidly-growing Christian movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  Shipping charges apply  Original price: $14.95  $11.50

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Volume 2, Number 2   Published 2013:  "The Seven Disciplines of Orality"  http://www.orality.net/journals/volume_2_number_2_2013 

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