Читать книгу As The Father Has Sent Me - Rod Culbertson - Страница 10

As we observed in the previous chapter, the beginning chapters of the Bible are radically different from the storyline that follows. This prologue material is neither redemptive nor progressive in nature. As a matter of fact, as Moses tells the story, the movement of the drama becomes both regressive and somber. If the next stage of history was not somewhat familiar to us, we would be wondering, “Is there any hope for the world?”

Try to think about this soon to unfold drama as if you have never heard it told before. The questions would be endless and the suspense overwhelming. I have a friend who has been working in a mission endeavor in Africa for over twenty years. For many of those years, he and his wife served in a ministry to the Maasai tribe of East Africa. He spent much of his life sharing the gospel of Christ with these semi-nomadic people. His goal in sharing the gospel, however, was not simply to present a typical four-point gospel message about God, man, Christ, and the response. He engaged in what he calls “Bible storying.” Instead, he tells the Maasai about how the Bible story unfolds so that they can understand that God is actively working in his world and that he has a plan that includes even them. And, of course, that plan is Christ! He once told me that using the story-telling approach to the gospel means that his Maasai audience has to wait a long time to fully understand the gospel story. At the same time, however, they are being both evangelized and discipled. I write about this mission ministry because I want us to imagine what it would be like if we were a member of the Maasai tribe listening to the Bible story being told in chronological order for the very first time. We would hardly be able to wait for the next chapter of the book. One has to wonder if we could actually put the book down! The prologue has presented us anew with that question—“What is going to happen to the God-forsaken (and God-forsaking) world of Genesis chapters 1–11? Is there any hope? Will matters become worse or get better? Will God do anything? My supposition is that you likely already know some of the answers to those penetrating questions. Nevertheless, I hope that you will continue to read on as if you are a member of this tribe, as one who does not know the story, or simply as someone who has never heard the Bible story before.