A Different Narrative

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

Kids love stories. It is a tradition in most households to have ‘story time’ before bed. Little ones curl up with mom or dad and hear stories that send them off into the imaginative dream world of another nights sleep. One time when my sisters and I were little we got a Grimm’s Fairy Tale book gifted to us from a friend. My mom had no idea what Grimm’s Fairy Tales were . . . and so one night, as was our custom, we all gathered on her bed and snuggled in to hear our good night story. Now, let’s pause for a second to remind ourselves that the point of bed time stories is to calm children and set their imaginations going for some great dreams later on! Well, this story accomplished one of those goals . . . mom opened the book and settled on reading the story of Blue Beard. I hope you were never told that story as a child, but if you were then you may remember that Blue Beard kills his wives and buries them in the walls of the basement of his creepy castle. The story begins with him and his new wife returning home from their wedding (obviously she has no idea about his intentions). As she moves into the house with him he hides a key and to an area of the house that He tells her she cannot enter. Her curiosity peaks one day, and she uses the forbidden key to search the house against his orders when he is away. She enters the forbidden area and finds out his horrid secret (you know, dead wives in the basement . . . ). In her panic to escape she drops the key in a pool of blood. The blood is magical and, unfortunately for her, she cannot wipe it off. The evidence against her is sealed and Blue Beard will find out when he comes home exactly what she has done. I won’t spoil the ending . . . That’s a pretty good chunk of a story to remember for only having read that story ONE time twenty years ago! Needless to say, my mom immediately threw that book in the donation bin and it was never seen from again! Do you remember any stories that you were told from your childhood? (Hopefully yours aren’t as traumatic as that one!)

There are certain narratives that make an impact on us and that we remember. Not just the bed time story narratives, but also the narratives that are spoken into our lives by society, our families, or the church. Sometimes these stories become narratives that we tell ourselves over and over again, believing them and recognizing them as truth. We are so used to hearing these narratives that we often don’t question the story they tell, never wondering if it is right or wrong to believe it. But, when we accept Jesus into our hearts we invite Him to be the one in charge. It is at that point that grace, sacrifice, mercy, and love come to a climax in our lives through Christ and His death and resurrection. In that, He turns to a new, fresh, blank page and takes His ink stained hand over to write your new story. This story that Jesus speaks into our lives, although new when we become Christians, has to become the loudest story we hear . . . superseding the narrative of our old lives. It is our new story. But how many of us continue to repeat words from the old narrative over and over again, because we know it so well? The old narrative’s familiarity rolls off our tongue without us even realizing that we are continuing to believe something we need to break free from. We must know the voice of Christ so that we do not follow a stranger . . . or a strange narrative! Jesus is our narrator, whispering into our stories each day, telling us what is good, pure and wonderful and pointing us to the Way that leads to life everlasting.

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger . . .”

John 10:2-5a

By watching our actions and discerning our heart motives we can see which narrative we are leaning into. According to John 10, it’s easy to discern which voice you’re following – the True narrative leads us towards Jesus, the false ones lead us away.

There are many false narratives that, over the course of our lifetime, we have to recognize and call out. Unfortunately throwing these false stories and thoughts into our minds is one of the enemy’s greatest tactics. One in particular that has been slipping in, unnoticed, is the distorted belief of the purpose of the church. Let’s flesh this one out a bit . . .

If you grew up in the church, the Great Commission is probably one of the verses that is stuck in the back of your head. When Jesus left to ascend back into heaven He didn’t tell His disciples to “Go start the church.” He told them to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The narrative that the world tells us about our lives is that “it’s all about you.” Take care of you. This particular narrative which is so seeded into the sinful narrative of our being continues to creep in and whisper its words – and often times we believe it. This narrative of selfishness is particularly hard to break free from. This “me, me, me” attitude has created a narrative in the church. A narrative that Jesus would not subscribe to. One that is destructive and often goes unnoticed.

When the church was started, the whole purpose was to create a community that could come together to accomplish the Great Commission. The early church shared everything with one another, met daily to praise God and learn more about Him and they looked for opportunities to care for people and share Jesus with. One of the reasons that the early church grew so rapidly is because they were so “others focused”. Their eyes were set on Jesus and through that came an overflow of love to those around them.

When I googled “what’s the mission of the Christian church?” my internet page filled with Christians around the world giving all of the right answers; answers that fit in perfectly with the Great Commission. We have heard Matthew 28:19-20 before and so, intuitively, we know the mission of the church. But, maybe the real questions we need to ask ourselves is: “Why do I show up on a Sunday morning?” Take time to do an honest evaluation of that question. For me, my reasons would be: because it’s my job (as a Pastor it would not look good to just not show up!), to teach people about God, to worship God, to see my friends, and because that’s what you do as a Christian. As I evaluate my WHY, even with some great reasons listed, I still see a “me, me, me” narrative coming from my heart. What about for you?

You can discern what narrative about the church you’re believing if you check your attitude. Let me give a few examples . . . “I’m too tired to go to church today. I had a long day yesterday and I need to sleep in.” “I am not going to attend Bible Study tonight. There is something else I would way rather do tonight. Plus, I already showed up at church on Sunday morning.” “I can’t find a church to attend. Every church that I go to just doesn’t seem like it’s for me. It doesn’t really fit what I’m looking for.” Have you ever said any of these things to yourself? I know I have! The common story being told through these attitudes is that church is about you. This is a scary narrative to believe because it’s the exact opposite of the true narrative . . . Church is not about you! It never has been! It’s about Jesus. The church was put together to help navigate what Jesus asked us to do in Matthew 28:19-20. This narrative that says do what you want, go where you want, engage how you want, your time is your own . . . this worldly narrative needs to be broken in the name of Jesus.

Friends, the next time we feel like we don’t want to show up at church, or Bible study, or small group we must remember that it’s not about us. It’s about everyone else that will show up there. Your job (and my job!) as a Christian and a part of the Body of Christ is to serve our community (both in and out of the church) by contributing in some way. That ‘me, me, me’ narrative that creeps in is an easy default to choose . . . and sometimes it’s hard to catch ourselves believing that narrative. But, it’s time to discern our hearts and to stand up and fight against that easy, deceptive narrative and choose to walk in and believe the God narrative. Jesus has the pen in His hand and He is ready to breathe His own life into our story. Will we take the time to let the Jesus’ narrative be the most important?

Written by: Justine Joy