Well, in all honesty, I have just had this playing over and over in my mind - “it’s time to flip it…to flip the narrative!”
At first, I was like I don’t know if this is God or me - you know those moments? Where you like was that me or you, God? But I can’t get it out of my mind, JUST FLIP IT! You see, I am realising that we are so conformed to the norms of society that when we think of flipping it, it seems a task bigger than we can handle. Just me? I tend to think like this…How can a few people flip the narrative on patriarchy, flip the narrative on age, flip the narrative on addiction recovery…the list could go on and on. What are you thinking about now? That’s probably the thing you’d love to flip the narrative on.
I’ve had countless conversations with friends (especially those with kids) around the future they want to see, especially for their children. Around the cultural and societal norms that we want to challenge and ultimately….flip the narrative!
Yes, FLIP THE NARRATIVE. FLIP IT real good!
Okay, so let me back up a bit. I’ve been reading a book by John Mark Comer called Live No Lies and it has honestly rattled me in the best possible way. The book is broken into three parts: The devil, the flesh, and the world and in a nutshell, it’s this: “We have DECEPTIVE IDEAS (lies) that play to DISORDERED DESIRES (the flesh) that are normalized in a SINFUL SOCIETY (the world).”
I know, I had to read that line a few times to let it kinda sink in - and it doesn’t even come close to summarising the book. Let me start at the begging of this flipping narrative (see what I did there haha). The deceptive ideas are the lies that we believe. And as I began to unpack it, I was shocked to see the narrative I was allowing to define my life. To define who I am, sometimes without even realising it.
I love Jesus, I love the church and I am beyond grateful for the community and friends that I have in my life. But man, when I started to write down the lies I was believing (and yes…just started) I found myself wanting to stop because as I wrote each down, it meant I would have to do two things: 1. admit the truth and 2. change. Sometimes it feels easier to stay the same..doesn’t it? That’s a lie - it’s not easier, it’s just less effort (ouch!)
You see, this meant I would have to admit things I wasn’t sure I was ready to. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems the hardest part is admitting it, facing it or even coming to terms with it. I’ve had to find the root of the lie and when I do, ask myself what my core belief is then. What is the root? To be completely vulnerable (to whoever reads this) I found that a common theme was simply this: I do not trust God. So many lies rooted in broken trust.
But as I began to unpack more and more one of the lines that hit me was this: CHANGE THE CHANNEL. How often do we change a song when we don’t like the one we’re listening to? Or change the Netflix show we’re watching when we get bored or just don’t feel it anymore? We don’t really like to endure through things we don’t enjoy, and yet, with our thinking, we tend to endure regardless of whether it’s good for us or not.
You know the immediate verse that came to my mind with Change the Channel was Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renew
al of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Renewal is transforming. Transformation. Change. FLIPPING the narratives. \
I think it’s time for us to change the channel, so we can FLIP the narratives that are defining who we are. It’s almost like we don’t want to pick up the pen because then we actually have to DO something - take action. I want to challenge you today to pick up your pen, open a new doc in both your mind and your notes and FLIP THE NARRATIVE. Will it be easy? NO!! Will it be simple? YES. Do you need to do it alone? NO. But you know, you need to start somewhere. Start today.
I have this thing bubbling up inside of me to flip the narrative!! I want to call ENOUGH on the lies, the societal norms, the things that bind us without us even realising. It’s time to flip the narrative on women, it’s time to flip the narrative on the church, it’s time to flip the narrative on relationships and there are so many more. I don’t think it’s about rewriting, I think it’s about writing renewed and afresh! It’s time… to wake up from our slumber and sleep and write a renewed narrative. Re-established, or Revived.
What is something you wish you could flip the narrative on?
Maybe it’s that you have been defined by your generation’s narrative...
Maybe it’s that you have been defined by your family’s narrative…
Maybe it’s that you have been defined by the narrative that follows your age…
Whatever it is, there is something incredibly powerful about the stories and narratives we write, think and speak and I believe it is time for us to FLIP IT, renew it, transform it…and how? One at a time. Maybe you have a daughter and it’s time to flip the narrative and view of women for her sake. Maybe you know someone in addiction recovery and it’s time to flip the narrative from guilt and shame to freedom and gratitude for spaces like recovery. Maybe it’s time to flip the narrative from complainer to joy bringer….gloating to gratitude…or perhaps it’s just procrastinator to do-er. Maybe it’s to flip the narrative from consumer to contributor.
Or maybe, just maybe, you begin to realise that there is a false narrative defining your life and it’s time to let the truth reign in your life. God’s truth. The truth that will set you free. And while it takes a moment's decision, it takes a lifetime for transformation - none of which happens without action. As Eugene Peterson says, a long obedience in the same direction.
You are chosen, loved, redeemed, and called. Not for your own sake but for the sake of Kingdom come. And all I can think to encourage you with is this:
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
This is the flipping narrative I want to see in my thought life. To think about such things. So all that to say….what are you going to flip the narrative on that only you can?
And if you are looking for a space to connect, I’d love to invite you to Sunday Night Live (SNL) - maybe it’s exactly what you need!
Much Love,
Kels Xxx
