The versatile Word of God

“What does Paul mean by ‘mystery’?” K-san asked me.

I sighed in my spirit. He was a smart young man, good at anything he put his mind to. I chose Colossians thinking it would be a good fit for our one-on-one discipleship, but it never seemed to connect with him.

After we finished Colossians, we turned to the gospel of Luke. K-san ate it up. He was more animated and less reserved when engaging with the stories about Jesus. There were fewer questions about what was going on and more observations about the greatness of Christ.

For the first time, I realized how the different genres of Scripture can be used for effective discipleship.

What are the genres?

With K-san, I initially missed what his love of Marvel movies said about his heart. He loves stories. So in hindsight, his resonance with Luke made sense. Rather than plodding through an argument about why Christ is great, he was moved by pictures of Christ’s greatness.

You can make a case for a dozen or more unique genres in Scripture, but you can also boil those down to three broad categories: narrative, poetry, and discourse. The distinction lies in how they convey truth. Narrative uses stories to convey truth. Examples include Genesis, Ruth, and Luke. Poetry deals primarily with images and emotions to convey truth. The Psalms are the clearest example of poetry. Discourse, like the New Testament letters, relies on arguments and logic to convey truth.

There is a lady at the same church, A-san, who is a methodical notetaker. She loved our sermon series in 1 Peter because Peter’s use of logic, a staple of discourse, showed her how Christ’s people live as exiles in this world. Her faith and commitment to cling to Christ were strengthened by Peter’s encouragement not to lose heart because at one time there were only eight people in the entire world who passed through judgment unscathed (1 Pet. 3:20). Discourse benefited her more than it did K-san.

What’s the issue?

I started discipling K-san with Colossians because I had experience using Paul’s letters while discipling others in the US. I failed to realize how much of a bias toward discourse I had. I assumed that because it was fruitful for me, it would be fruitful for him. Even though I could cross the language gap, I was not fully able to cross the heart gap.

We need to set aside our preferences and consider the individuals we are discipling as well as our own implicit bias. Have you considered the different ways that the gospel is presented in Scripture and how they could speak to the individuals around you?

As a new Christian, I loved the gospel of John with its lofty prose. But I’ve found that Mark’s simple narratives reverberate with Japanese more than John’s philosophical discourse. John and Mark both share the same message about Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31b, cf. Mark 1:1), but the style of one gospel may resonate with one believer more than another.

What’s the aim?

Reading the Bible with K-san was only one part of our discipleship. I also preached and led music on Sundays. He came to our prayer and Bible study gatherings. In many different ways, I was able to expose him to the gospel and what it means to walk in light of the gospel. He surprised me yet again when the Japanese version of “Be Thou My Vision” became one of his favorite songs.

Think of the implications of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (ESV).” Narratives like Ruth and 1 Samuel give us examples of how to (and how not to) respond to the steadfast love of the Lord. Discourse like Ephesians helps root our lives as a response to the Lord’s love. Poetry such as Psalm 1 paints powerful pictures of how to live out the fear of the Lord.

The beauty of Scripture is that we can bring the gospel to bear on any facet of life. Christianity is not merely the intellectual religion some Japanese shy away from. It is not merely the emotional high that some churches are addicted to. It is not merely a story into which our story fits. Scripture is holistic in its presentation of the gospel, so let us use its many facets in discipling others.

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