When I try to fit God into my story, he is no longer God but an accessory

I am really enjoying the process of starting to do some Theological study.

For a long time I have been aware of a brand of theology called “Narrative Theology”, which is the relatively recent approach of seeing the Bible as the “story” of God’s interaction with humanity rather than a set of rules or principles.

One of the dangers I have seen in what some call Narrative Theology, is the over-emphasis on the personal narrative and seeing the Divine narrative through that lens rather than the other way around.

I have actually found two fairly simple books helpful in understanding Narrative Theology: In “how to read the bible for all its worth”, the authors outline a hierachy of story:

Gods story (the “big” story)
|
Our story (the corporate narrative of a nation or group)
|
My story (the personal narrative)

I find this simple explanation very helpful, but it wasn’t until I read Rob Bell’s simple book “Jesus wants to save Christians” that I realised just how important the understanding of the big story is…

I realised I grew up in a world of Bible stories… individual narratives from which meaning was drawn, but I never heard or really understood the “whole story”, the profound journey from creation, through two exiles, to the cross and then the church of which I am now a part.

This breaking up of the bible story into its constituent parts is actually what Narrative Theology is trying to counter, however when people start engaging with the idea of narrative without a clear picture of the “big story” and how God’s action is shaping history, the only outcome can be a subjective “my story” approach, which can actually be quite dangerous.

When I understand how my story fits in with “the big story”, there is a sense of relief and empowerment, but when I try to fit God into my story, he is no longer God but an accessory.