Story? (Bulletin Article for February 17)
For two hours of the recent Freed-Hardeman University Bible Lectures, Leah and I sat at the feet of brother Brad Harrub. You may have seen some of his writings in the past on the website of Apologetics Press. Brad now lives in Nashville and writes for Focus Press, publisher of THINK magazine (Brad serves as an editor and author for the magazine). He travels all over the country conducting seminars dealing with evidences.
In one of his lectures, he mentioned something that I had read before, but he was able to expand upon it. He said that we should not use the phrase “Bible story” when teaching our smallest children. He also mentioned that we should not call the men and women of the Bible, “characters.”
Why? Because it makes these “stories” sound more like fairy tales and the “characters” more like something out of a Disney movie. Instead, brother Harrub said, we should use phrases such as, “historical record,” “men and women,” “people,” and “accounts.”
Upon some reflection, I think he has a great point. While I don’t think it is a sin to say “Bible story” (and I don’t think brother Harrub does, either), we do need to think about the meaning behind the words we are using. To most children, a “story” is just that—it could be true, or it could be fanciful.
When it comes to the Bible, though, every word is true (Psalm 119:160). Each account is true. While there are some amazing accounts (creation, the flood, Jonah, Jericho’s walls, Jesus’ miracles), we can know they are absolutely true in every detail.
As one example of where unbelief could lead, think of the “story” of Jonah. For the next two Sundays we will be looking at this great book. But if this is just a fanciful story, then not only is that book some sort of fairy tale, but also Jesus is using a fairy tale to speak of His teaching (Matthew 12:41) and His burial and resurrection (verse 40)! And, if the resurrection of Jesus is not true, then our entire faith is vain (First Corinthians 15:14).
So let’s teach our children that these are not just “good stories.” Yes, they are stories, but they are true, historic, accurate, life-changing stories. They can be proven true, and have been over and over. The Bible is right, and we need to proclaim it.
