Telling the story of God’s glory

In your upcoming book, Remember and Rehearse, you discuss the many stories that compete for our attention—the story God intends for us to hear, but also the stories the world tries to tell us. What’s at stake in this ongoing battle for our minds?

JT: I want every single person to know they are living in a story. Ever since Genesis 3, there have been these false stories that have invaded our world. They’re compelling, but they’re also deceitful and they tend to compete for our affections and for our lives. At the core of what God has done for us is He has given us the only true story in Scripture. The reality of the Bible isn’t just that it’s a bunch of compiled stories—it is one true story about how God is making all things right in the person of Christ. But as disciples of Jesus, we can’t live in that story if we don’t know that story. We all know by default because of our sin the false stories or the disorienting stories of the world. But at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus is crucifying—dying—to those stories and learning how to live in the true story. The heart of Bible literacy isn’t just knowing facts to Bible quizzes. It’s knowing the one true story of Scripture.

What are some ways pastors and church leaders can equip believers to articulate the story of the Bible and share that story with non-believers?

JT: One of the ways I’ve encouraged pastors and church leaders to think about how to equip their congregations with the true story of Scripture is to first realize that many of them think they know it, but they actually don’t. Every single study—whether it’s Lifeway, Ligonier, or others—suggests Christians are unfamiliar with the story of Scripture. That isn’t to say we don’t know the stories of the Bible. We know Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We know the walls of Jericho falling. We know Daniel in the lions’ den. We know the stories of Jesus. We’re familiar with the stories of the Bible, but pastors and church leaders need to recognize their congregations don’t know the story from Genesis to Revelation.

So, beginning with the realization that many of our people who are following us don’t know what the story is, I think, the first key. The second is, in every single opportunity you have—whether it’s preaching on Sunday mornings, home groups, or Sunday school—is finding ways to give Christians the true story of the Bible. For example, at our church, we have key learning outcomes for our Storyline kids ministry. Every single student knows the 40 key hinge points of the story of Scripture before they graduate from fifth grade. In our institute class [for adults], we’re still teaching the story of the Bible. In every single environment, we’re trying to immerse people in the one true story of Scripture.

How does your team at Storyline work to build bridges between your church and the community in which you minister? 

JT: Just this past Sunday, we baptized our 167th brand new Christian this year. Almost all of them are over 18; over half of them are college students. We baptized 47 people this past Sunday alone. At our church, we have the baptismal candidates read their stories and testimonies, and almost none of them shared that they came to faith through my preaching ministry. Almost every single one of them shared that they came to faith because it was their roommate who shared the gospel with them, it was a co-worker who shared the gospel with them, or they heard the gospel from someone at their mom’s Bible study. 

Once we’ve encouraged people to learn the story of the Bible, we encourage them to share the story of the Bible, and it is as simple as this: We’ll have them say things [to non-believers] like, “Hey, I’m in this church where we’re encouraged to tell the story of the Bible in 15 minutes. Would you mind if I shared the story of the Bible with you? Can I practice with you?” And what they’ll do is over the course of the next several weeks, when people are on their walks or enjoying dinner together, they’ll share the story of Scripture and learn how to get better at it. But they do it with an evangelistic bent to it, and people are coming to faith left and right because non-believers don’t know the story of the Bible. When they hear that God loves them so much that He made them, that despite their sin He came for them in the person of Christ, that He died a substitutionary death for them, and that He’s now sent the Holy Spirit to apply all the benefits that Christ has purchased, they want to come to faith.

What are some of the more interesting and encouraging trends or practices you’re seeing in the church as it pertains to disciple-making and evangelism? 

JT: At Storyline Church, we have three primary learning environments: a men’s Bible study, a women’s Bible study, and the Storyline Institute Deep Discipleship program. In those spaces, we have over 1,000 people involved. I’m not pastoring in Dallas. I’m not pastoring in Houston. I’m not pastoring in San Antonio. I’m just outside of Denver, Colo. [It’s a] highly progressive, largely secular community here. What we’ve found is, one of the most evangelistic spaces is what you might think of as a Sunday school environment. Non-Christians here don’t know Exodus, they don’t know Numbers, they don’t know 1 and 2 Chronicles, they don’t know Matthew. So, when we invite them into the life of our church to learn the Bible, they’re very willing to come. They’re not antagonistic toward the faith. They’re largely interested in it. They want to learn. They want to grow. [Of the] 167 people we baptized here this year, over half of them were non-Christians showing up to our Exodus Bible study because their friend invited them. 

So if I could maybe say anything, I would say do not think your learning environments in the church like a women’s Bible study, a men’s Bible study, or if you do our Deep Discipleship program, are only for Christians. They’re highly, highly, highly evangelistic. We’ve seen dozens of people come to faith this year by simply being invited to an Exodus Bible study.

As you prepare to speak at the Empower Conference, what has God been putting on your heart to share with those who will hear you speak and teach? 

JT: I’m so honored and humbled to come speak there and be a part of that great environment. At the heart of what I want to tell ministry leaders right now is I want them to want more. This is such an important moment in redemptive history, and we can’t just keep doing the same things. This is a time for fervent prayer. This is a time for deep Bible study, deep theological formation. This is a time to dig down deep and plant churches. I know some of the people who will be [at Empower], they’ve been in ministry for 50 years. Others have only been in ministry 10 or 15 years, and some are brand new to ministry. We are living through what I believe is one of the most important missional moments that we’ll ever experience. Let’s not miss it. Let’s get after the Great Commission together.