This is one of my favorite anecdotes taken from an article by Geneen Roth called Big Fat Lies. She says, “My mother has a name for the elaborate, wrongheaded tales we tell ourselves. She calls them Jack Stories.”

 “One day, Jack had a flat tire on the side of the road–before cell phones, AAA, GPS, etc. He saw a farmhouse in the distance and started toward it to ask if he could use the phone. As he got closer, he told himself this story: There will be a man at home, and he will be mean, nasty, and maybe even violent. He will answer the door and ask me what the heck I think I’m doing, out in the middle of nowhere, knocking on a stranger’s door. He will assume I am a thief or a louse. He probably won’t care that I have a flat tire. He won’t care about his fellow man. He is probably the kind of guy who kills small animals just for fun. He might even try to beat me up.

“Just as he is approaching the front door, Jack thinks: This guy is an absolute menace to society. I would be doing everyone a favor to take him out. Jack raps on the door. Hard. Loud. A man answers and Jack says, ‘So! There you are! You swine, you pig! Well, take this─!’ And Jack punches him in the nose.”

I laugh every time I think of the poor, clueless guy who answered the door only to be punched in the nose for no reason. But I also wonder how many hapless folks I’ve “punched in the nose” because of Jack Stories I’ve told myself. Our former pastor, Dick LaFountain, had another name for Jack Stories, he calls them “Stinkin’ Thinkin’!” He says, “Mindreading is one of the ten negative thought patterns of stinkin’ thinkin’ and is defined this way: You assume to know what others are thinking. You perceive yourself as being able to read their thoughts, intents, meanings, and motives─and it is always negative. Rarely do you ever read positive thoughts into people’s expressions or actions…” That definition sums up Jack pretty well, except Jack had never even met the man in the farmhouse!

Sometimes we make up Jack Stories because of experiences we’ve had as children. As a little Mennonite girl getting on a public school bus with our Amish neighbors, we got lots of rejection. As a result, in other situations, I often assumed for no good reason that people would reject me. My Jack Story might have gone something like this: “I know these people won’t like me. They probably think I’m stupid and won’t want anything to do with me. I’d better avoid them.” Rather than punching people in the nose, I kept my distance; in essence, rejecting them before they could reject me, although I never saw it that way.

Other times, we tell ourselves Jack Stories out of fear. “If I perform in the talent show, I’m sure to make a fool of myself. I’ll probably forget the words or sing the wrong notes. Everyone will think I’m an idiot.” Or because of stereotypes we’ve believed. “White people are not to be trusted. Two of them took advantage of my sister and I’ve hated white people ever since. I’d have to be a real nut case to think they really want to be my friends.”

It’s true some temperaments have a tendency toward more negative thinking than others, especially melancholies. However, Tim LaHaye did a study on the fruit of the Spirit with a football team and discovered that for every temperament weakness, there is a fruit of the Spirit which will compensate for that weakness if we allow the Lord to develop it in us. So there’s never an excuse for saying, “This is just the way I am” when it comes to negative thinking.

In my experience, Jack Stories do the most damage when I assume I know what someone is thinking or why someone is doing something (their motives), and respond based on those assumptions. If I want to know why someone did something, it’s best to ask them rather than assuming that I know. Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 says,   “…patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit for anger resides in the lap of fools.” and James 1:19 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.” If we follow these instructions, we will be less apt to do foolish things as a result of Jack Stories we’ve told ourselves.

Pastor Dick says these ten negative thought patterns are ten lies of Satan and I agree. (Sometimes Satan encourages us to tell ourselves Jack stories and other times, he tells them and we agree!) “These thought disorders of the mind cause anger, bitterness, and depression,” Pastor Dick concludes. So I challenge you, next time you find yourself angry, bitter, or depressed, check to see if you’ve been entertaining Jack Stories!

Father,  show us the Jack Stories we’ve believed and reveal the truth to us. Help us remember that “Love always believes the best” (I Cor. 13:7 Amplified). Amen.