The Danger of the Single Story, Part 1: Creation

In a 2009 TED Talk, entitled The Danger of a Single Story, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “How to create a single story: show a people as one thing, only one thing over and over again, and that is what they become… Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person but to make it the definitive story of that person.”

“Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story.” “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”[1]

I would argue that we have developed single-story thinking about the Story of God. We have created an unnatural divide between social justice and proclamation.[2] We have fallen into the trap of single-story thinking. We have defined ourselves, our churches, and who we associate with, depending on where we land on these issues. Early on in your association with the church, you had better decide on whose side you are; otherwise you will likely get eaten alive.

At one point, there seemed to be a lessening of this divide, but in the last five years, many gains have been reversed. Instead, we have seen an intensification of these dichotomies and a hardening of the battle lines between “gospel” people and “justice” people. The biblical story is not single-dimensional, and by making it one, we have robbed it of some of its power, immensity, and ability to captivate our hearts and minds. The biblical story is a bigger, fuller, richer, and altogether more beautiful story than either side in this unnecessary dichotomy can adequately portray. We need to break out of this single-story mindset and instead embrace the gospel (story of God) as a multi-faceted, all-embracing story of restoration, grace, mercy, and justice with the death and resurrection of Jesus at the centre of the story.

The Biblical Story is a bigger, richer, fuller, and altogether more beautiful story than either side can adequately portray. I am convinced that evangelism, proclamation, mercy, and justice are all integral to a proper understanding of the gospel. We need, therefore, to break out of the single-story, single-dimension mindset and instead embrace a multi-faceted, whole-of-life, story of restoration, grace, and mercy with the cross of Jesus firmly planted in the centre of the story.

Creation

It is impossible to read the Creation story and not see the centrality of God’s Word within that story. God speaks the world into being – “let there be…” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24,).” He speaks words of abundance, “eat from any tree in the garden” (1:29-30). He speaks words of order, separating, designating, and naming (1:4-5, 7-8, 10, 12, 14-17, 22, 25). He rules by his word “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (2:17) Time and time again throughout the first two chapters of Genesis, we see that God’s Word is integral to his creation purposes.

But God’s word is not simply a word that is an end in and of itself. It is a working word. A word spoken to accomplish something. The word is not the goal in and of itself but is spoken to accomplish some very specific ends.

God’s Word Creates a World of:

Order: all the various relationships and aspects of creation work together in harmony, each doing what it ought to do for the benefit of every other aspect of creation. When God says that something is good (Genesis 1:4, 9, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), God is saying it fulfils its purpose. The world works the way it ought to.
Abundance and Plenty: God creates a world with enough for everyone to meet their basic human needs (Genesis 1:29; 2:9, 16). There is no scarcity of food, no food shortages, no over-consumption while others starve – everyone has enough to eat. There is diversity and a richness of edible options. Absent is the bland diet of necessity or the meagre helpings of poverty.
Dignity: there is good, honest work for everyone (Genesis 2:15). There is no unemployment, nor any of the dehumanising, impersonal, and unfulfilling work done by so many on the margins of society. Men and women are given a role that affirms their significance and their value as image bearers of God.
Inclusion: God does not hoard his power nor use it to oppress or marginalise man and women; instead, they are invited into the creation and given a role as co-creators and shapers of the earth (Genesis 1:26; 2:15, 2:19).

Shalom:

The biblical word for this idyllic world is shalom. Roughly translated, it is the Hebrew word for peace. But the English word “peace” hardly does it justice. Shalom carries far more weight than simply the absence of conflict or a sense of inner tranquillity. Derived from the verb “to complete” or “make sound” (šālôm),[3] shalom carries the sense of wholeness, completeness, and security, “embracing both the physical and spiritual dimensions and relating not only to the individual, but also to entire communities and relationships among persons.”[4] Author and activist Lisa Sharon Harper further defines shalom as “when the image of God is recognised, protected, and cultivated in every single human.”

Shalom is when all the interconnected relationships of the created order, between God, humanity, and creation, are working together to bring flourishing and healing to all of creation. It is crucial, however, to recognise that these relationships do not exist in isolation but are given concrete expression in religious, political, economic, and social structures and systems. The right working of these systems and structures, thus, forms an essential aspect of what constitutes shalom in God’s world. This systemic or structural aspect of shalom is often not given sufficient consideration. Shalom is thus both personal and structural, individual and communal, material and spiritual.

Not a Single Story

The story of creation, as told in the book of Genesis, is far from being a single story. Word and deed, material and spiritual, structural and personal, individual and communal, all form a dynamic interconnected whole, each integral to the state of shalom and flourishing in God’s created world. There is no discernible dichotomy between word and deed in the Genesis narrative.

Next: Did the fall introduce a fundamental shift in the dynamic of God’s world and in how God relates to his world? Do the events of Genesis 3 introduce a fundamental dichotomy into God’s creation, such that God only relates to humanity in a spiritual sense now?

[1] Adichie, C.N. (2009). The Danger of the Single Story. [TED Talk]. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/c. Accessed 18/6/2026.

[2] In truth, the dichotomy is between proclamation (evangelism or Bible teaching) and anything else in life or Scripture.

[3] Smith-Christopher, D.L. 2000. Peace. In: Freedman, N, Myers, A.C. and Black, A.B. (eds.) Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p.1021.

[4] Myers, A.C (ed.). 1987. Peace. In: The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p.807.

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