We've all experienced those moments in the grocery store, standing before endless options, making choices that reflect not just our taste preferences but our consumer approach to life. The bread aisle, in particular, tells a story about modern consumption habits. Consider how differently we approach bread in our daily lives. At one extreme, we grab pre-sliced, refined white bread for quick toast or sandwiches—convenient, uniform pieces separated from the whole loaf and stripped of nutritional complexity. At the other, we might savor an artisanal whole grain loaf, experiencing its complete texture, flavor, and nourishment.

This offers a powerful metaphor for how we approach Scripture today. Rather than engaging with the complete, unrefined biblical narrative, we often consume convenient, processed fragments—isolated verses on social media, devotional snippets, or favorite passages pulled from context—missing the depth, richness, and wholeness of God's story.

The Processing Matters

Modern commercial bread-making strips away the bran and germ, removing fiber, nutrients, and complexity to produce something uniform and shelf-stable. Only afterward are synthetic nutrients added back in—a process literally called "enrichment." The result is something that bears the name "bread" but lacks the complete nutritional profile of the original grain.

In much the same way, our approach to Scripture has often been "processed" by cultural and historical shifts. The result is an approach that feels familiar, accessible, and consistent but often lacks the depth, richness, and complexity of the Bible's full narrative.

This shows up when:

• Bible stories are reduced to moral lessons ("be brave like David") rather than their role in God's redemptive story.
• Old Testament narratives are treated as inspirational or exemplary stories, disconnected from covenantal context.
• Prophetic texts are mined for isolated promises without regard for their original audience.
• Difficult passages are avoided or oversimplified.
• Promises made to specific people are immediately applied to ourselves without understanding their original setting.
• Psalms of lament and judgment are edited out to maintain emotional comfort.
• Familiar verses are shared out of context, losing their original meaning.
• Jesus' "red letters" are prioritized but detached from the Old Testament narrative.

Like white bread, this approach can be easier to chew and consume. But something vital has been lost in the processing. While "enriched" fragments may provide comfort or insight, they lack the fullness and complexity of whole grain. Bible study can seem rich—providing comfort, reassurance, or even personal insight—while missing out on the deeper, more challenging aspects of God's redemptive story. These aspects, while difficult and sometimes uncomfortable, are essential to understanding our place in God's grand narrative. They provide the "vital gluten" that gives the story its substance, helping us understand the depths and extent of God's redemptive work in creation and humanity, which not only comforts and nourishes, but also shapes our participation in God's larger story.

When we skip over these more difficult parts—whether it's suffering, judgment, or the messiness of God's dealings with his people or his enemies—we lose the context that makes the good news truly good. Without engaging with the full, unprocessed narrative of Scripture, we might feel disconnected when life challenges our faith. The comfortable, individualistic gospel that we've been fed might leave us questioning God's presence or doubting his purpose when things don't go the way we expect.

Sometimes, the Bible's depth isn't found in quick, easy comfort and personal hope or guidance. The application to our lives today requires engagement with the whole full-kernel grain of the narrative, including the more complex aspects that require us to chew and wrestle with the whole text.

The deeper satisfaction comes from moving beyond superficial consumption to an engagement that nourishes not just our immediate hunger, but our entire understanding—where the effort of study reveals a richness that quick and easy approaches can never provide.

The Root Causes of Our Refined Approach

To move beyond fragmented faith, we must recognize two foundational shifts that have narrowed our vision:

Starting With Fall Instead of Creation

Many of us have been taught to understand the Bible primarily through the lens of human sin and personal salvation. While the reality of sin and our need for forgiveness are absolutely essential to the gospel message, beginning our theological framework with the Fall rather than with God's original creative purpose often leads to an incomplete understanding of Scripture's full story.

This approach to the biblical story jumps quickly from "God created" to "humans sinned," moving quickly to Good Friday and Easter, missing the Bible’s larger narrative arc: the restoration of all things. Jesus’ death and resurrection are not only the reversal of Genesis 3's curse but the beginning of the cosmic restoration of creation itself.

Christ died to rescue and redeem his whole creation. He loves the world he created, and his death accomplished much more than the rescue of humans to take them to heaven. For example:

• Romans 8:19–23 ("creation waits in eager expectation...")
• Colossians 1:19–20 ("through him to reconcile all things...")
• Revelation 21 ("a new heaven and a new earth...")

The Bible speaks of a Kingdom that has already broken into the world through Christ’s reign but is not yet fully realized. As followers of Christ, we are not merely pilgrims enduring life until heaven; we are active participants in God's redemptive work here and now.

This reality carries profound implications for how we live now. As the reigning King, Jesus has already defeated Satan and cast out the powers of darkness, securing victory over sin and death. While the battle is not yet fully completed, we can live confidently, knowing that the outcome has already been decided. Our participation in this kingdom means living under Christ's Lordship in all of life, actively engaging in His redemptive work as we await the full realization of His reign.

As followers of Christ, we are not merely pilgrims passing through, heads down, enduring the trials of life, looking ahead to a better future in heaven. We have a role to play in the redemption and restoration of the world—participating in the "already" of the Kingdom, the here and now inaugurated by the Lord Jesus through his life, ministry, and his exaltation to the right hand of the Father as Lord over all.

This larger narrative, which spans from the creation mandate in Genesis 1 and 2 to the ultimate renewal of all things in Revelation, is where we need to begin. We are part of that story, and the full gospel message calls us to engage with it—not just as individuals seeking salvation but as participants in God's redemptive work in the world.

David Bruce Hegeman captures this well when he speaks of "two notable strands of human history":

"One strand—redemptive history—has rightly occupied the central focus of the Church... Nevertheless, this is not the whole story. Before concepts such as sin, death, alienation, redemption, restoration, etc., were ever on the historical scene, there was another more basic strand of human history—culturative history. Man was given the task to order, develop, and embellish God's splendid creation, to realize the multifarious potentialities which were embedded within it. All of this was commanded before the fall of man into sin."

This starting point doesn't deny the reality of sin and the necessity of salvation. Rather, it reminds us that when we underemphasize God's original purpose for creation, we miss a vital part of what Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension were meant to accomplish. The gospel remains true—but if we shrink its scope, we present a narrower vision than Scripture itself reveals. The good news is not merely a rescue mission for individual souls; it is a cosmic restoration that reaches every corner of creation and calls us to active participation in God's redemptive work.

Individual Rescue Over Cosmic Redemption

The shift from focusing on creation to beginning with the Fall has often led to a reduction of the gospel's narrative scope, narrowing its focus from God's comprehensive plan for all of creation to primarily personal spiritual rescue. In this view, salvation becomes about individual souls going to heaven, while God's broader work of renewing all things is either neglected or minimized.

Cherith Fee Nordling challenges this view:

"The idea of a dyadic, privatized relationship with God—particularly as an expression of salvation—is theologically impossible for Christians... To be saved is to be renewed in the true image of God as women and men in Christ... Being saved, being in covenantal relation, is God's first and only eternal plan of salvation... His 'plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on earth.'"

When we reduce salvation to a matter of individual spiritual rescue, we lose sight of our place in God's broader redemptive work. This narrow view makes our vocational calling in daily life, cultural engagement, environmental stewardship, social justice, and creative cultural development seem like optional extras, rather than recognizing them as essential expressions of God's redemptive mission. It distorts our understanding of the gospel and diminishes our role in the renewal of all things—not just individual souls, but creation itself.

When our grasp of God's larger redemptive plan is incomplete, we struggle to communicate a compelling gospel to the next generation as they navigate real life, and to a skeptical world that questions the very notion of sin and the need for salvation—dismissing it as "pie in the sky" or a mere "crutch."

This lack of a holistic, creation-centered understanding of salvation leaves us ill-equipped to engage meaningfully and covenantally with the world—beginning in our families and extending into every sphere of society. When we lose sight of God's comprehensive redemptive work, we not only fragment our approach to Scripture and faith, but we also weaken our covenantal responsibilities: raising the next generation in faithfulness, building households that reflect the Kingdom, and exercising dominion in the world through culture, vocation, and community life as a body of believers. Salvation is not merely about personal rescue; it is about the renewal of all creation under the lordship of Christ, and our faithful participation in that ongoing restoration.

In Part 2, we'll explore the practical consequences of these foundational shifts—how they manifest in our daily practices and shape our faith. We'll also introduce the 'whole grain' alternative that can transform our understanding of Scripture and begin to see how this alternative approach offers a more complete and nourishing engagement with God's Word.

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." — Matthew 4:4