Telling people a different story

In a conversation with a church leader last week, they used a phrase that caught my attention. They suggested that we need to understand a different story for people we encounter, especially those who have a negative language of self, and that part of our calling is to tell them this different story, a story which has God at the heart of things, a God who sees them very differently to perhaps how they see themselves.

I dare not count the times I have met people who will use self-deprecating phrases as they begin to share their stories. They will suggest that they were not clever or gifted enough or perhaps use the phrase, “I was just a… (insert role).” I do not exclude myself from doing something similar; I can be equally destructive of myself and create a script of not fully being accepted. Honestly, no one would ever dare speak to me after I have led a service in the way I speak to myself.

But this is not a reflection about me; it is a reflection to suggest that many have learnt a story about themselves, which can ultimately be destructive, and how, by telling them a different story, we can give them hope.

Psalm 139 has a beautiful section that often causes me to pause:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvellous - how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

Isn’t that wonderful? God took time to create each of us; none of us are an accident or unexpected failure in the eyes of God. It strikes me that if God has had such an input in our creation, knitting us together in our mother’s womb, and has every moment mapped out for us, should we not be better at telling ourselves and others a different story about who we are and who they are? This different story is one of truth, not necessarily one of culture that defines our worth in vastly different ways. A story that helps others see they are wanted, valued, intentionally placed and that there is hope.

For too long, we have lived in the shadow of the achievements of humankind. We, as humans, can sort, fix, and solve things. We define the boxes in which people are placed and then tell them which box they are to be in depending upon their education, wealth, achievement, and societal position, to mention just a few. If scripture teaches us one thing very clearly: God does not do boxes. God is in charge, and through God’s agency, each of us has been intentionally formed in the womb, loved and wanted by an all-loving God. People will only find their true identity in God, not in culture, with all its questionable measurement metrics.

So, throughout the next week, I invite you to tell those you encounter a different story about themselves when you get the chance: the story of God in their lives, whether they know God or not. Begin by looking for indicators of the Spirit's presence in them; where do you see goodness and authenticity? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a thought or a picture, and trust yourself when you share it. Perhaps, in the process you too will discover a different story about yourself: You are precious, beautiful, safe, His. You are loved.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31 (NLT)

Simon Mattholie

CEO, Rural Ministries