Good morning!

If someone with hundreds of thousands of followers started mocking you online, how would you respond?

It feels like there are a few options…

• Reply back defending yourself or tearing them down
• Get your homies charged up and have them go into attack mode in the comments
• Ignore them publicly but skewer them privately
• Do nothing at all
• Befriend them

I can tell you which of the options I would be least likely to do - and it would 100% be the last one. It’s so counterintuitive and against what almost anyone would naturally do.

But…. what if you were so clear about your story - and what was most important - that you would do the very thing that most people would never do?

Then you would be an example of someone who is truly living into a meaningful story.

And recently, a guy you may or may not have heard of, did just that.

GETTING MOCKED

That guy? Forrest Frank. He has been at the top of the Christian music charts for much of the last three years and he writes very catchy songs. He has incredible talent and seems to be a great guy. Why would anyone attack him?

Like most things - it’s not always as simple as it seems. But here’s the backstory.

In July he had a skateboard accident and ended up with a broken back. In the midst of his miraculous recovery (a story for another day), he wrote a song from his bed and it went viral. That created a trend of a few other Christian artists making songs from their beds as they recovered from injuries as well - even leading to some collabs between Forrest and them.

Then, another artist, Cory Asbury, decided to make his own similar style video as he recovered from his vasectomy. The tone and style was intended to be humorous, but some, including Forrest, felt he took it too far. Then the internet - aka fans of Forrest - quickly went afterrrrrrr Cory. His post was getting blown up and he was getting torn down.

In the midst, Cory sent Forrest a text expressing some remorse. And Forrest had a choice to make.

What was the kind of story he wanted to live into? What mattered most?

CHOOSING A MEANINGFUL STORY

I don’t personally know Forrest Frank, but what’s clear to me from this situation is that he’s made a choice about what’s most important to him - and knowing that allows him to lean into his meaningful story.

In this video Forrest talks about his choice to lean in and want everything he does to point people to his faith in Jesus. That’s what is most important to him.

The question for Forrest - and for all of us - is the story of our life reflective of what we say is most important?

This circumstance gave Forrest an opportunity to lean into his meaningful story at a time when the internet - and likely his natural reaction - were pushing him to do the opposite.

And every meaningful story has four pillars…

• Personal - Specific and unique to a person
• Intentional - Commitment to a specific direction
• Purposeful - Seeking a greater good
• Challenging - Difficult or uncertain to achieve

I write about this extensively in Worthy Wins, but ultimately I believe that winning where it’s worthy is marked by living a meaningful story. It’s something we all have the chance to do.

But the best, most meaningful stories are not easy. They are marked by overcoming obstacles and facing difficulty.

THE CHALLENGE OF FAITH

In Forrest’s case, the choice to befriend and lean in with Cory had to be difficult. He felt attacked and mocked.

Jesus talked about this kind of situation in the Bible. In the midst of the most famous sermon ever told (the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5), Jesus issues a request for a countercultural response to being wronged. While I won’t go deep into the theology of this, Jesus tells the listener to embrace those who have wronged them. In fact he goes deeper than that…

Love your enemies? Pray for those persecuting us? Really?

It was as countercultural then as it seems now in the midst of our divided world. But that is what makes it so important - and beautiful. The stories that move our hearts are all filled by people embracing challenges.

Ultimately, Forrest’s choice to embrace Cory had to be a difficult thing for him to do in the moment - but as we see in the end, it was very clearly worth it. And it was undoubtedly Forrest’s clarity about what mattered most to him (faithfully following Jesus) that allowed him to lean in, rather than away from Cory.

May we all be inspired to lean into the difficult challenges that give our story greater meaning.

Rooting for you.

Much love,

JO

WORTHY WINS REFLECTION QUESTIONS

A few simple questions to consider...

• Are you clear about what matters most to you?
• Do you have a clear picture of your meaningful story - and how it applies across the four pillars?
• Is there an opportunity to lean into difficulty or challenges right now in your life that will help your story be more meaningful?

MY BOOK

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