YOU HAVE BELIEVED THE LIE FOR TOO LONG

9 Replies

By Mike Foster:

A teacher called you slow.
Your dad called you a pussy.
A preacher screamed you were going to hell for what you did.
Your best friend said you looked fat in those red pants.
Cosmo said sex was the only way to be sexy and that thin is in.

Somewhere, sometime, someone spoke words over you, and their lies cut deep. You believed them, and became labeled.

We’ve talked about labels before. We spent six months confronting the chains we’ve worn around our neck for so long. The Labels Lie campaign told many stories, but there are still things untouched.

Today we are launching the first 2 photos from our new Labels Lie photo series entitled “The Label Maker.”

It’s time to identify the individual who labeled us — the person we allowed to label us. The parent, the teacher, the friend, the pastor, the spouse, the relative, the kid in the school yard … who cut into us a life-long label.

Why bother digging so deep into painful memories? Because we can’t be free from the lie of our toxic label until we identify the beginning. We can’t truly heal till we know why it’s there in the first place.

Who said it? Who put the label there? Was it once? Over and over again? Either way, it stuck.

“The Label Maker” photos are:

  • Honest … because the longer we BS ourselves, the worse the problem gets.
  • Raw … because we want to provoke something deep inside our souls, instead of just skimming the surface.
  • Violent … because the photos represent the graphic wounds left by labels, once kept inside but now displayed openly.
  • Liberating … because if we are courageous with each other, and confront labels as a community, we can be free.

Let’s as a community of grace talk about them. Wrestle with them. And let’s all be brave in confronting our label maker.

SO HOW CAN YOU BE A PART OF THE LABELS LIE CAMPAIGN?

1. Donate a Tweet to the Labels Lie Campaign. Help us reach 1 million people. It only takes 10 seconds to opt in. Click here.

2. Share the images and use your influence in your online networks. Pin it. Share on Facebook. Blog it. Reblog on Tumblr. Instagram the photo with the hashtag #labelslie.

3. Do you lead a church or small group? Dedicate a worship service, gathering or small group time to highlight this topic. We did this at Moment Church and people are still talking about their personal breakthrough. Email us for details. Contact(at)POTSC.com

4. Make a public commitment to not use them or accept them. Start by tweeting this promise: “I believe Labels Lie. Don’t use them. Don’t accept them! #LabelsLie #potsc”

5. Do you have a magazine or print edition? Are you a reporter or writer? We can give you hi-res print files and a story! Email us. Contact(at)POTSC.com

Labels Lie. Don’t accept them. Don’t use them.


  • http://twitter.com/AshleyASmith ash

    THIS: “Why bother digging so deep into painful memories? Because we can’t be
    free from the lie of our toxic label until we identify the beginning. We
    can’t truly heal till we know why it’s there in the first place.” is where I started in deep pain 9 months ago… but true healing can happen when everything is illuminated.

  • http://www.mustardseedyear.com/ Jason Wert

    The photo of the girl being branded literally made me sick to my stomach.  Such power in these photos.

  • http://www.mohan37.com/ mohan37

    there’s an inherent violence to labeling that is often missed in the national conversation …  hard to ignore here.

  • http://www.gritandglory.com/ Alece

    THIS. This is powerful.

  • http://www.jermainelane.com/ Jermaine Lane

    The culture exalts productivity, our human doing.  We wouldn’t run a marathon with a broken leg, so how can we “do” until we focus on our “be”?  Our human (be)ing, our (be)ginning, we must start at our roots, our labels, our wounds so we can heal and be whole.  Thanks you for this and the pictures, wow…

  • http://twitter.com/MikeFoster Mike Foster

    so true Jermaine! love it!

  • http://www.margaretfeinberg.com/ Margaret

    Powerful images– especially the first one of the young woman

  • http://joycannis.wordpress.com/ Joy

    Wow, this is so powerful! I love the boldness.
    The courage is evident and this series will help so many.
    Thank you…thank you…thank you…

  • April

    Love this. Slow. Too serious. Goody two shoes. Too fragile. Funny, but not in a haha kind of way. These are condescending words spoken to me by people who also say they love me. I have a question … what is the best, most gracious way to respond? Sitting at a diner, he looks at me and says “you are so easy to pick on” with a smile…. In that moment I ignore it, but take out a small moleskin and journal my feeling… I don’t feel safe saying it outloud, but on the small notebook I scribble two words under the table… then quickly close it. “It hurts”. Later I ask him why he said it… why not encourage, I ask… he said “oh, you’re so serious all of the time”. And the pattern continues. In the moment… is it best to ignore? I wabt to be a grace giver in the moment… any thoughts on how best to react with love?

    Well, in the meantime I will forgive him. And pick up the phone. And say happy father’s day.