Gospel Conversations Reimagined: The True Story of the Whole World & Why Truth Matters

Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre suggests that stories provide answers to one of life’s fundamental questions, “What am I to do?”[1]  He suggests that we cannot answer this question until we ask and answer the prior question “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?”[2]

As I mentioned in my previous post, it seemed as though America’s society and culture seemed to be shifting under my feet and everything felt sort of off-kilter—especially when it came to sharing the Gospel. I kept wondering “What am I to do?” As I kept reading my Bible I discovered, in a fresh new way, that I am part (we are all part) of The True Story of the Whole World (TSWW).[3] I also discovered that understanding God through the lens of the TSWW makes a huge difference when it comes to engaging in meaningful gospel conversations.

I began to find my balance.

So, here are five simple reasons why it is so important to recognize that the Bible is the TSWW. I use the phrase The True Story of the Whole World in order to reinforce the fact that the Bible tells the true story of the whole world. It is not one of many stories, it is not just one of the major religious stories in the world, nor is it merely a better religious story. The Bible tells the true story of the whole world.

Here is what I mean: The TSWW is comprehensive in scope and is anchored in the sixty-six-book canon of Scripture (Genesis to Revelation). It rests on four key themes that are woven throughout the sixty-six books of the canon—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration or re-creation.

I will provide an overview of these four themes in my next post, but here I want to explain why I insist on using the phrase, The True Story of the Whole World.

1. First, because the TSWW is universal truth and is historically embedded. It provides a framework of meaning for all of history and the events in history and provides meaning for all of the little stories across history including your story and mine.

2. The TSWW demonstrates that the gospel is multidimensional and is good news for all people—God’s kingdom and Gospel transcends and transforms all cultures. Theologian Christopher Wright describes the TSWW as a missional phenomenon, “The Bible renders to us the story of God’s mission, through God’s people, as they engage with God’s world for the sake of the whole of God’s creation.”[4]

3. The TSWW is TRUE, which is significant in a secular culture and what many refer to as a “post-truth,” fake news era which only serves to further enhance the relativism of our day. So, the fact that I’ve chosen to use the phrase “true story of the whole world” is purposeful—not because it is somehow more appealing, not to make it sound like a benign storybook, but to emphasize the fact—in a so-called post-truth, fake news, relativistic culture—the Bible tells the TSWW.

I firmly believe that the implications of declaring that the bible is the TSWW in our culture today are far reaching and will require a humble posture as God deepens our understanding of the gospel and calls us to engage in a secularized culture.

4. The TSWW, by the triune God’s design undergirds the need for oneness in our diversity. God intentionally created a multi-ethnic, multi-national, and multicultural people. We see this across the storyline of Scripture and in living color today.

5. The TSWW gives us confidence in the public square—in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities. The good news of God’s kingdom has come and is meant to permeate all of life—it is meant to engage not only our hearts but also our minds and our words, our hands and our feet.

 “The gospel is public truth, universally valid, true for all people and all of human life. It is not merely for the private sphere of religious experience. It is not about some otherworldly salvation postponed to an indefinite future. It is God’s message about how he is at work to restore his world and all of human life. It tells us about the goal of all history and thus claims to be the true story of the whole world.”[5]

Maybe you’re like me and you’re a little bit disoriented and you find yourself asking one of life’s fundamental questions, “What am I to do?” Let me encourage you to read your Bible and discover for the first time or in a fresh way, the story of which we are all part: The True Story of the Whole World.

For some initial resources to help you in your quest, check out:

Michael Goheen, Craig Bartholomew. The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama. Ada, MI: Brazos Press, 2020.

Susan Goodwin, Jennifer Peterson, Molly Sawyer. Every Word: A Reader’s 90-day Guide to the Bible found on Amazon.

[1] Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), 216.

[2] MacIntyre, 216.

[3] Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew, The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama (Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Resources, 2004), 7. Lesslie Newbigin, Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 126, provides the foundation for this phrase, “We believe that the truth about the human story has been disclosed in the events which form the substance of the gospel. We believe, therefore, that these events are the real clue to the story of every person, for every human life is part of the whole human story and cannot be understood apart from that story.”

[4] Christopher Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative (Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2006), 22.

[5] Goheen, Bartholomew, Living At The Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 4.