This is Dr. Randal Gilmore, Founder of the Gospel Story-arc® Project. The best way to explain the Gospel Story-arc® Project is for me to share a bit of my own journey. I grew up in a Christian home and became a believer in Jesus when I was just eight years old. After high school, I attended Bible college and was trained to study theology and the Scriptures. I really fell in love with the Word of God back then and remain in love with it to this day. But through the years, I found my understanding of many Bible texts limited by the philosophy and narrow range of analytical tools I had been taught. I became frustrated, believing that word studies and Western style outlines weren't always the most effective ways to make sense of the Gospel.

Then I turned to the science of story. And what I found is a much simpler, more coherent, and much more powerful way of engaging (and applying) Bible content.

This is where the Gospel Story-arc® Project enters in.

It’s not that I started thinking that everything I was taught previously was wrong. It wasn’t. And I remain grateful for the training I received. But I’ve realized that I was more focused on the systemization of the gospel story than I was on the story itself, like someone more interested in watching a movie’s special features than the actual movie.

As for Gospel messaging, any summary of the Bible story we share should include information from four broad categories: Who Jesus is, What Jesus did, Who we are, and What we should do in response. But a “special features” approach has led to packaging the Gospel with cleverly worded formulas and outlines.

Meanwhile, a lot of information about who Jesus is drops out. And what Jesus did gets narrowed to “he died for our sins and rose again,” though sometimes, even the resurrection drops out. Of course these facts are true, but there’s more to what the Bible says about “what Jesus did” and “will do” beyond the resurrection. Information on who we are gets narrowed to the fact that we’re sinners, which we are. But there’s more to what Bible has to say about us as well.

The combined effect of all this narrowing of information leads toward asking people to believe that “Christ died for them,” without asking them first to believe that “the Christ is Jesus,” which is the leading proposition of New Testament Gospel presentations.

Once I realized these things, the question became, “How should I expand Gospel messaging to include more information on who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and who we are?”

And the science of story provides the answer.

The science of story reveals several elements that are key to our making sense of the information we take in. For example, God has hard-wired our brains to look for a character, who has a meaningful goal, and a motive that makes pursuing it something that matters. We look for what obstacles stand in the character’s way, and for the dangers and risks of the character not succeeding. Finally, we want to know the sequence of events where these things unfold.

Gospel Story-arc® messaging tells the biblical story of Jesus with the above story elements in mind. And we tell the sequence of what happens using the seven-fold structure of a typical story: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and untying (see the graphic at the bottom). In this way, we tell more of Jesus’ “backstory” and more of what happened after Jesus died and rose again; namely, that he was exalted at God the Father’s right hand, and will return someday to restore all things. Consequently, Gospel Story-arc® messaging does not settle for asking people to believe that Jesus died for them, without their also knowing and responding in faith to who he is as a person, a historical person, a person who is very much alive right now, the promised Savior of the world, the risen and exalted Lord of lords, and coming King of kings.

A Gospel Story-arc® approach affects how I study everything in Scripture, and how I disciple people to love and serve Jesus. It’s been a great journey, and I have lots more to share with you, including more about how to use narrative tools to study the Scriptures. Plans for a podcast are underway. In the meantime, the “Resources” link at the top will connect you with our free Gospel Story-arc® Messaging and other resources.

I am inviting you in, because, as I always say, “It’s Your Story Too!”™