The Bible Is a Story

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My elementary school music teacher loved strawberry pie. She craved it, she told us, until one fateful day when the last bite of a long-awaited slice was corrupted by a bad strawberry. The rotten taste shifted her life’s pie-eating trajectory, and years of bliss were negated by one wayward berry: She no longer craved strawberry pie. “That’s why the last note of a song is so important,” she said.

I can’t remember a thing about my elementary school music teacher, except that strawberry pie anecdote. I’m as concerned as you are that this story has been tucked away in the crevices of my brain for two decades. Why is it so easy for me to remember? Why am I able to respond so fully to the question, “Caroline, can you explain Mrs. McNatt’s aversion to strawberry pie?” yet the question, “What’s the equation of a line?” leaves me flummoxed and RIDDEN WITH SHAME?

Is this evidence that my high school education completely failed me? No, I think it’s less serious than that. 

I think our brains are designed for stories.

Our brains are designed for stories

In general, human capacity for story-intake is exponentially superior to our ability to take in formula. Probably because our lives are shaped like narration and not like y = mx +b. (Is that right?! Did I get it right?! I’m forbidding myself from Googling.) We just remember things better when they’re shaped like a story.

Jesus was right there with God when God created humans, and maybe that’s why he taught with stories. Who would know human inner-workings better than God who became man? Jesus likely desired listeners to hold the stories in their brains for a while, to chew on them, to consider them as they went about their day. Stories are like mental play-doh, something our brains can play with and work through.

Our relationships are designed for stories

But stories aren’t just for the brain, they have a way of working themselves into our hearts and creating bridges between us and other people. Our relationships are designed for stories. I’ve often said that stories are relational currency—when you share your stories with me, and I share my stories with you, we’re investing in one another, and the relationship starts to feel rich.

Stories are foundational for relationships: We get to know one another by sharing stories. We feel safe with people who know the details of our stories. We feel connected to others when they share their stories with us. Even more powerful in our relationships than a story told is a story experienced together.

The Bible is a story

It makes sense, then, that God would design his words to us (the Bible) to form a story—something our brains can play with, something we can build our relationship with him upon and experience alongside other believers. 

The problem is that we often forget that the Bible is a story, and we treat it like the equation of a line instead. It starts to taste that like bad strawberry, souring in our mouths and resulting in boredom, legalism, and Mrs. McNatt’s tragic “I don't crave that anymore.”

What a gift it is to our souls when we can remember that the Bible takes story shape! When we read it as if it has a beginning, middle, and end, we are more willing to hang in there when things feel really confusing. When we keep an eye out for similar themes and reoccurring symbols, we are delighted by surprising connections we find. When we are introduced to a new character, we try to connect the dots just like we naturally do in real life: Where is this person from? What is his or her background? How is this person connected to other people I know? The storyline becomes endlessly fascinating, and we find ourselves craving bite after bite.

The Story of Redemption Bible

Reading the Bible as a story and retelling it in creative ways has been transformative to my faith! (You can read some of those retellings here and here.) That’s why I was especially excited to experience The Story of Redemption Bible: A Journey through the Unfolding Promises of God from Crossway. Not only is it really, really beautiful (shout out to graphic designer Peter Voth) and begging to be displayed in your home, but the commentary by Pastor Greg Gilbert is story-minded, helpful, and prompts readers to marvel. This particular Bible is ideal for anyone wanting to go through the Bible in a year or read the book cover-to-cover. It will keep your mind focused on story instead of formula, help you make connections you might not otherwise have made, and extend a hand of kind accessibility.

For example, instead of including a map of Paul’s journeys in the back of the book, the maps are interspersed within the book of Acts, so that you can travel through the map as you travel through the storyline of the Bible. This kind of small detail really helps bring the story to life. I especially benefited from commentary in New Testament books that connects that content to Old Testament teaching and offers insight into the context of the original hearers. For example, in Luke 4, Jesus quotes Isaiah. The commentary offers insight into Isaiah but also context of the Nazarenes who were listening: “The people were expecting Jesus to continue reading that phrase as well, but he does not.” You need to get the Bible to see what I’m talking about, but suffice it to say—WHOA! There’s more where that came from.

A few other features I love:

  • Helpful introductions to each book

  • The Index of Title Illustrations in the back gives a simple illustration and bite-size explanation that represents a major take-away from each book. (I love manageable things that help me organize complex information in my brain.)

  • The timeline in the back is a beautiful “zoom out” that’s easy to reference as you read

  • IT’S JUST SO PRETTY

Oh friends, the last bite is DELICIOUS. Not like Mrs. McNatt’s strawberry pie.  How I love God’s word! 

If you are struggling to read the Bible as a story, if you know someone who might treasure reading the Bible as a story, or if you want to treat yourself to a fresh way to read through the Bible in 2019, you may want to consider investing in this Bible. Here’s where you can get it:

Got questions? Come find me on Instagram and comment on my post of this Bible or send me a DM! I LOVE chatting about God’s word and finding ways to help women delight in it.

*I received a free copy of this book from Crossway in exchange for my honest review. I wouldn’t gush if I didn’t love it! I’d just be like… “Oh look, here’s a thing. Now let’s talk about pizza or literally anything else instead so I don’t have to be mean.”