Robert E. Webber, in the first chapter of his book, Who Gets to Narrate the World?, discusses how the North American Church has lost its grip on the fullness of the biblical story and instead has only concentrated on various small pieces. It cannot see the whole picture, the all-encompassing narrative. He points out the following:

God's story suffers from reductionism and privatism. The failure to put the whole biblical picture together is a result of the [Church's] cultural accomodationism. Specifically, it is the problem of reductionism. The Christian faith has been reduced to a few doctrines of self-interest. In my own background, my dad and his pastor friends concentrated almost exclusively on five doctrines: sin, sacrificial atonement, conversion, sanctification and premillennialism. What was missing was a thoroughgoing connection between creation, incarnation and the re-creative acts of God (such as the resurrection and restoration of creation). My dad, though a devoted Christian and a passionate preacher, lost the fullness of the Christian story because he created a story around five pieces of the puzzle instead of the whole picture. The Christian faith was reduced to the problem of my sin, the work of Christ for me, the necessity of my conversion and the expectation of my faithfulness to live like a Christian. I was made the center of the story. I needed to invite Jesus into my life and my journey so he would walk with me and bless my life and my ministry.

God calls us to His story. By contrast, the original story, the one delivered by the apostles to their successors in the early Church, was not nearly so much my narrative as it was God's. And God speaks His narrative through the Bible. God's story is about the whole world from its very beginning to the very end. It includes all the nations and governments of the world; it includes the earth, sun and sky; it includes the entire universe. This story even includes you. God, the divine narrator, is saying: I have a purpose for humanity and a purpose for creation and history. I am not asking for permission to join your narrative (although I do); I am asking you to join My narrative of the world, of human existence, and of all history (25).

Webber then proceeds to sketch the story of redemptive history using the categories of creation, fall, incarnation (or redemption), and re-creation (or consummation). He makes the point that recovering this narrative is the most significant and crucial challenge for the Church in our time, and successfully carrying out the mission of God we are entrusted with depends on it.