FAST-TRACKING Bible Stories

During my early days of learning to train new pastors and evangelists to use Bible stories I soon realized that when I went story-by-story many in listeners group still failed to connect the stories as episodes of a greater and continuing Redemption Story. To remedy this I began telling an overview story or panorama of all the Bible stories I was going to cover one-by-one. To save time I did not go into all the detail and dialog in this panorama. But I was careful to bridge and connect the stories so that the evolving larger story was soon evident to the listeners. I was using a set of color “Telling the Story…” pictures that I hung on a string across the teaching area as I told the stories. This way there was both visual as well as narrative connection between the individual stories. This helped to lay a foundation or background upon which to then tell the individual stories in greater detail. Now the listeners knew where the story went in the larger Bible story. I had no name for this practice. It was just part of my teaching time.

In another country where I was visiting radio listeners with the follow-up team we had occasion to visit with people who insisted on feeding the team after we had prayed for some family need. Neighbors came and gathered to listen. It seems that catching a chicken and cooking it with some rice and lentils would take an hour or more. We realized one day that this was a wonderful opportunity to tell an overview of the Redemption Story and try to time it to conclude about the time the food was ready to eat. We would usually have time for about 30-40 stories told and linked together but without any comment or discussion. So we began with Creation and the sovereignty of God, continued through the sin and judgment stories, the substitute sacrifice, the failure of people to live without sinning, several of the prophet stories calling people to return to God and then telling of the coming Messiah, and finally a selection of stories of Jesus to characterize him as God’s Sacrifice, and ending with the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. I did similar story sequences when meeting with seekers and new believers that covered mainly the stories of Jesus, and if there was time three to four key Old Testament stories to lead into the story of Jesus.

My team had noticed that many viewers were deeply touched by the JESUS Film but then asked why those bad things happened to that good man. They had no perspective to understand why Jesus had to come and suffer. So to prepare viewers it seemed helpful to tell carefully selected Old Testament stories and keep pointing to God’s promise to provide a Redeemer who would suffer for our sins. Then show the JESUS Film.

I shared with a colleague I was teaching Bible stories with in Africa about the use of the story sequences without comment or discussion. I don’t recall how we came to this term but somehow we began referring to this as “mainstreaming the Gospel.” I used this term for a year or so but never felt good about that term. Then I began using the term “fast-tracking” to describe telling the story sequences just going from story-to-story. The term stuck and we’ve continued to use it.

I was actually forced into a precursor of this in my early days of Bible Storying. In a certain country where I was sent to a tribal village to teach the stories. However, the venue was a mud building with straw roof and no windows, only a door at the back. There was no light inside except for the sunlight glaring in through the door. I could not see the faces of the people, only their silhouettes outlined by the glare. I also could not see either the book of stories in one hand and my Bible in the other. And I had all day to tell the stories. Somehow I was able to remember enough beginning with Creation to make it to a tea break mid-morning. Rushing outside I quickly scanned ahead which helped me to make it until stopping for lunch. Again I scanned ahead and was able to make it to the mid-afternoon tea break and then on to the concluding stories of the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Whew! It was an ordeal but it was apparently instructive. The next day I was in a better situation under a roof but with plenty of light. Again I had my Bible and the book of stories but found that I did not really need to refer to them that often. It was not long after this that I began the regular training when I discovered that I needed to fast-track the larger story in preparation for teaching the individual stories.

Since that time I’ve had numerous occasions when I was asked to fast-track Bible stories. One time when at a meeting in my mission agency’s home office I was asked on the spot to tell the Christmas story. I was able to begin with the Old Testament prophecies and then continue right on into the merged Luke and Matthew accounts of the Birth of Christ.
Where I had opportunity to tell many Bible stories while probing for potential responsiveness among a people I found that if I told the Passion Story as a fast-tracked uninterrupted story that it had a much greater impact upon listeners as the story swept them along from incident to incident. Since those days I’ve had many opportunities to share this story which can take anywhere from thirty minutes to more than an hour depending on how much detail and dialog is kept in the stories.

Fast-tracking can be used with character stories like that of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Saul, David, and even some of the prophets like Elijah and Elisha. And, of course, the story of Jesus can be fast-tracked instead of just the Passion portion. In doing so I tended to cluster several of the similar stories rather than trying to keep them in any chronological order. So there might be several stories dealing with evil spirits, several stories of healing, several of raising the dead, and some of the parables that are already in clusters. Then I would harmonize the four Crucifixion and Resurrection accounts and vary it according to the group of listeners.

There are several advantages as well as some disadvantages of fast-tracking the Bible stories. First, I’ve found that fast-tracked stories may work better where there is hostility to individual stories with discussion which may be viewed as preaching. This may be that the linked story sequences do not allow time for a hostile reaction to develop. Another is that the fast-tracked sequences permit giving a perspective that covers everything from the Sovereignty of God in Creation to the promise of Christ’s return at the Ascension. I would always encourage following up the fast-track with a slower story-by-story teaching when possible to encourage internalizing the biblical truths leading to salvation.

On the disadvantage side the sequence is difficult for listeners to remember everything though it does have great spiritual and emotional impact. Second is that it is difficult to learn and do the first time. After telling the individual stories more than one hundred times in training sessions it became rather easy to just use the stories I had already learned. People ask me for a copy of the Passion Story as I tell it. I do have a written text but I never tell the story the same way twice as I adjust the story according to the time I have. It is very important as you tell the stories to always be mindful of when you need to stop, and how much time you have remaining so that you will be able to get to the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension stories.

Fast-tracking then is basically going from story-to-story without stopping to comment or discuss the stories. It is important to bridge or link the stories to pick up themes or threads that connect the stories. Fast-tracking the Gospel can make an interesting narrative sermon. Fast-tracking a few related stories can be used when time is brief. We’ve used short fast-tracks when witnessing bedside in hospitals. It can be a good waiting room presentation for medical clinics. And it can be used during man of peace home visits.

How do you learn to tell fast-tracked Bible stories? You first learn the individual stories one at a time. If you were doing a presentation like the Passion Story you could use a script to refer to. It takes practice and repetition. There is one thing that has perhaps helped me more than anything else. I discovered over time that as I told the stories I was beginning to see and hear the stories happening as I told them as if I were an observer and at times a participant in the stories. This was interesting as I had already discovered that oral communicators often saw or experienced the stories as happening right then as the stories were being told. So in a sense the storyer and the listeners were now joined in experiencing the stories. Professional storyteller John Walsh tells people to teach the stories to their whole body not just their mind. He uses gestures, references to parts of the body, expressions, and movement to orchestrate his stories.

And there is spiritual preparation. I begin with rereading the stories I plan to use and try to visualize them as I read them. I like to practice telling the stories to myself when walking. There is prayer for anointing and wisdom and I always like to add in thanks for the many times in the past that God has granted me His blessing to tell His stories.

A paperback has been helpful at times is The Story: From Adam to Armageddon by Tyndale. It is a paperback with a chronological narrative recounting of the Bible story. It is edited from the The Living Bible and is condensed so that there is no repetition of parallel passages, nor long lists of difficult to pronounce and remember names. There are no verses, no chapters, and no books. The text is edited into episodes. In the Old Testament the kingdom and prophet stories are harmonized into coherent stories. The same is done for the Four Gospels into one account, and Acts and the Epistles are similarly harmonized. Another book that has been helpful for the Gospel stories is The Greatest Story from Multnomah Books by Johnson Cheney and Stanley Ellison. By harmonizing the individual stories the scripture passage with the most details in the base account is enriched with details from the other parallel or related accounts. An older version of this book is The Life of Christ in Stereo.

I hope this account will encourage the reader to consider learning to fast-track, if not the whole Bible, at least the story of Jesus.

J.O.Terry, Bible Storying Consultant & Trainer