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Flipped: Experiencing God in a Whole New Way by Doug Pagitt (17-Feb-2015) Paperback
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Doug Pagitt
24 books7 followersDoug Pagitt is the head pastor of Solomon's Porch in South Minneapolis and a Senior Fellow with Emergent Village: a generative friendship of missional church leaders around the world and a leading architect of the emergent church discussion.
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May 15, 2025
A ‘NEW WAY’ TO THINK ABOUT GOD?
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2015 book, “This is a book about Jesus… There is a chance that I might step on all kinds of land mines. After all, the Flip that is referred to in the book’s title is---among other things---a different way to understand Jesus. Beyond that, it leads to a different way to understand the world because of Jesus. I know from experience that not all people take kindly to someone attempting to change their view of Jesus and his teachings… However, in my thirty-something years in the church, I have wondered how the provocative, powerful, beautiful message of Jesus ended up producing the kind of religious life I see in the world. And perhaps, like me, you have read the teachings of Jesus and wondered how it led to this. The question for both of us is, ‘Does it have to stay this way?’” (Pg. 1-2)
He continues, “Change and growth is what [this book] is all about. When Jesus first said the things recorded in the Bible, no one missed his intent. He wanted to change the way they understood God. Of course, many of them were satisfied with the old ways of doing things. They preferred the familiar interpretations… We aren’t all that different. We are so used to the words Jesus spoke that we confuse familiarity with understanding.” (Pg. 2)
He goes on, “[This book] has nothing to do with a quick fix of yourself or the church you’re in. It does not recommend leaving the church for some other path to spiritual exploration. Neither is it a manual for setting others straight or … developing a better argument to use against those who differ with your view. You can do all those things without this book and without the unapologetic teachings of Jesus.
"[The book] has three goals… First, [it] wants you to see that changing your mind, drawing new conclusions, and engaging new ideas all lie at the heart of Jesus’s message and life… Second, [it] wants you to behold the big, beautiful story of God as you find new ways to live in it… Third, [it] wants to invite you to a full-vibrant life in God. [It] is an invitation to all the goodness and care of God so you will hear the call of God in your life.” (Pg. 4-5)
He explains in the first chapter, “Perhaps it has happened to you. You are making your way through life and suddenly find yourself upended by an idea… that stays with you… Over time you can’t imagine life without it. I call this a Flip. The Flip at the center of this book is one that turned me around as a pastor and a Christian writer as well as in my personal life and faith. I was sideswiped by a notion that caused me to realize God isn’t who I thought God was…” (Pg. 7-8)
He recounts, “I was one of the organizers of a national pastors’ conference… a respected theologian and one of the presenters at the conference…[was] walking by when I heard him say, ‘And that’s when I stopped thinking of God as a separate single subject.’ Wait. God is not just a separate single subject? God is not separated and removed from humanity? That means…” (Pg. 9)
He continues, “This idea may not strike you with the power it did me… It danced with other thoughts that seemed important to me but seemed out of rhythm with so many assumptions about God, humanity, and life. That’s the thing about Flips: once they start, they are almost impossible to stop… I realized I could think of God in bigger, more integrated, more expansive ways than I had before… Prior to this, I had only heard God descried in terms of difference and distinction from humanity and creation… The people I talked to about God in seminary and afterward were convinced that God is, quite simply, "Other.' But here was … a Christian theologian suggesting that is not the only way to think about God. And boy, did I want that to be true… I jumped on the idea that if God were not a separate being from all things in the cosmos, then we need not simply say God exists. We can say God IS existence. All is in God.” (Pg. 10-11)
He goes on, “God is not a separate subject that we talk about or relate to through belief, behavior, or practice… God is the very existence of all things… We are in God and not simply relating to God or serving God or walking with God, we are able to find not only our lives but all parts of our lives in the story of God.” (Pg. 14)
He elaborates, “Even the Christian faith is built on a foundation of Flipping---we call it a conversion experience… Jesus and Paul and Peter and John and others were all about the Flip. Of course they didn’t call it that. In the Bible, a Flip often is referred to as ‘repentance.’ … The Greek word for ‘repent’ … means ‘to change your mind, to reconsider.’ Jesus’ call to repent was a call to Flip. One of his most famous tactics was to upend his listeners’ understanding of the Law of God.” (Pg. 18-19)
He explains If/Then thinking: “‘If you do this, then God will…’ For many people If/Then understanding is the presumed language of God… I can see how that approach might feel safe, understandable, and doable… That’s also what the transactional approach to faith has going for it. If we can reduce our connection to God to an If/Then pattern, then we know what’s expected of us and can set about doing it. But.. the results of If/Then requirements … in our understanding of God are devastating. Even if there were rules for connecting to God, the adapter would keep changing. The result is that there is no hope of every truly being one with God under this system.” (Pg. 58-59)
He asserts, “Jesus was heaven bent on discrediting the system that imposed performance requirements on a person who sought access to God… But God doesn’t operate in that economy. God is the Giver, the Sustainer… God invites us to participate… Telling this story was at the top of Jesus’s agenda. HE invited people to live freely and humanly as partners with one another and with God… The end of the transactional system sounds great to anyone who has been oppressed by religious requirements.” (Pg. 88-89)
He contends, “Jesus wanted those around him---and us as well---to Flip. The point of faith is not to keep rules regarding the Sabbath. The benefit to humanity is the point of faith… Jesus did not ask his followers to keep the Sabbath better; he called for a complete reorientation… I believe Jesus’s Flip on the Sabbath rule should guide all of our efforts, especially religious ones.” (Pg. 92)
He notes, “[Jesus] kept at it, saying, ‘I am the gate’… ‘I am the resurrection and the life’… ‘Before Abraham was, I am…’ By making these claims, Jesus was… seeking to reorder where, when, and how God was accessed… Jesus was suggesting that things that had been controlled by a system of If/Then religion were no longer limited to buildings and books and rituals but were manifest in him. Flip.” (Pg. 158)
While other readers may not find the unnamed theologian’s statement to be as profound as Pagitt did, this book may still have interest for open-minded Christians.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2015 book, “This is a book about Jesus… There is a chance that I might step on all kinds of land mines. After all, the Flip that is referred to in the book’s title is---among other things---a different way to understand Jesus. Beyond that, it leads to a different way to understand the world because of Jesus. I know from experience that not all people take kindly to someone attempting to change their view of Jesus and his teachings… However, in my thirty-something years in the church, I have wondered how the provocative, powerful, beautiful message of Jesus ended up producing the kind of religious life I see in the world. And perhaps, like me, you have read the teachings of Jesus and wondered how it led to this. The question for both of us is, ‘Does it have to stay this way?’” (Pg. 1-2)
He continues, “Change and growth is what [this book] is all about. When Jesus first said the things recorded in the Bible, no one missed his intent. He wanted to change the way they understood God. Of course, many of them were satisfied with the old ways of doing things. They preferred the familiar interpretations… We aren’t all that different. We are so used to the words Jesus spoke that we confuse familiarity with understanding.” (Pg. 2)
He goes on, “[This book] has nothing to do with a quick fix of yourself or the church you’re in. It does not recommend leaving the church for some other path to spiritual exploration. Neither is it a manual for setting others straight or … developing a better argument to use against those who differ with your view. You can do all those things without this book and without the unapologetic teachings of Jesus.
"[The book] has three goals… First, [it] wants you to see that changing your mind, drawing new conclusions, and engaging new ideas all lie at the heart of Jesus’s message and life… Second, [it] wants you to behold the big, beautiful story of God as you find new ways to live in it… Third, [it] wants to invite you to a full-vibrant life in God. [It] is an invitation to all the goodness and care of God so you will hear the call of God in your life.” (Pg. 4-5)
He explains in the first chapter, “Perhaps it has happened to you. You are making your way through life and suddenly find yourself upended by an idea… that stays with you… Over time you can’t imagine life without it. I call this a Flip. The Flip at the center of this book is one that turned me around as a pastor and a Christian writer as well as in my personal life and faith. I was sideswiped by a notion that caused me to realize God isn’t who I thought God was…” (Pg. 7-8)
He recounts, “I was one of the organizers of a national pastors’ conference… a respected theologian and one of the presenters at the conference…[was] walking by when I heard him say, ‘And that’s when I stopped thinking of God as a separate single subject.’ Wait. God is not just a separate single subject? God is not separated and removed from humanity? That means…” (Pg. 9)
He continues, “This idea may not strike you with the power it did me… It danced with other thoughts that seemed important to me but seemed out of rhythm with so many assumptions about God, humanity, and life. That’s the thing about Flips: once they start, they are almost impossible to stop… I realized I could think of God in bigger, more integrated, more expansive ways than I had before… Prior to this, I had only heard God descried in terms of difference and distinction from humanity and creation… The people I talked to about God in seminary and afterward were convinced that God is, quite simply, "Other.' But here was … a Christian theologian suggesting that is not the only way to think about God. And boy, did I want that to be true… I jumped on the idea that if God were not a separate being from all things in the cosmos, then we need not simply say God exists. We can say God IS existence. All is in God.” (Pg. 10-11)
He goes on, “God is not a separate subject that we talk about or relate to through belief, behavior, or practice… God is the very existence of all things… We are in God and not simply relating to God or serving God or walking with God, we are able to find not only our lives but all parts of our lives in the story of God.” (Pg. 14)
He elaborates, “Even the Christian faith is built on a foundation of Flipping---we call it a conversion experience… Jesus and Paul and Peter and John and others were all about the Flip. Of course they didn’t call it that. In the Bible, a Flip often is referred to as ‘repentance.’ … The Greek word for ‘repent’ … means ‘to change your mind, to reconsider.’ Jesus’ call to repent was a call to Flip. One of his most famous tactics was to upend his listeners’ understanding of the Law of God.” (Pg. 18-19)
He explains If/Then thinking: “‘If you do this, then God will…’ For many people If/Then understanding is the presumed language of God… I can see how that approach might feel safe, understandable, and doable… That’s also what the transactional approach to faith has going for it. If we can reduce our connection to God to an If/Then pattern, then we know what’s expected of us and can set about doing it. But.. the results of If/Then requirements … in our understanding of God are devastating. Even if there were rules for connecting to God, the adapter would keep changing. The result is that there is no hope of every truly being one with God under this system.” (Pg. 58-59)
He asserts, “Jesus was heaven bent on discrediting the system that imposed performance requirements on a person who sought access to God… But God doesn’t operate in that economy. God is the Giver, the Sustainer… God invites us to participate… Telling this story was at the top of Jesus’s agenda. HE invited people to live freely and humanly as partners with one another and with God… The end of the transactional system sounds great to anyone who has been oppressed by religious requirements.” (Pg. 88-89)
He contends, “Jesus wanted those around him---and us as well---to Flip. The point of faith is not to keep rules regarding the Sabbath. The benefit to humanity is the point of faith… Jesus did not ask his followers to keep the Sabbath better; he called for a complete reorientation… I believe Jesus’s Flip on the Sabbath rule should guide all of our efforts, especially religious ones.” (Pg. 92)
He notes, “[Jesus] kept at it, saying, ‘I am the gate’… ‘I am the resurrection and the life’… ‘Before Abraham was, I am…’ By making these claims, Jesus was… seeking to reorder where, when, and how God was accessed… Jesus was suggesting that things that had been controlled by a system of If/Then religion were no longer limited to buildings and books and rituals but were manifest in him. Flip.” (Pg. 158)
While other readers may not find the unnamed theologian’s statement to be as profound as Pagitt did, this book may still have interest for open-minded Christians.
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