Forty Days of Apostleship: Believe in Your Divine Partnership

Forty Days of Apostleship: Believe in Your Divine Partnership

As the United States slides toward authoritarianism, and the United Methodist Church slides toward schism, it’s easy to be resigned. What can I do, anyway, you might ask? Don’t “they” have all the power? How can I create a divine partnership?

I understand that the news looks that way. And there are even those who would have you believe this. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

As a Christian, you come from a long line of miracle-workers, healers of the sick, and banishers of demons. Your people proclaimed the Gospel of the Kin(g)dom of God since Jesus first walked the earth. So put away the notion that you have no say in how things go. You are a spiritual badass in the making.

After all, Jesus lived under similar conditions. However, one of his primary beliefs lifted him above the fray and activated his agency so that he might dare to make a difference. As you learn to believe like Jesus, this belief will start your agency as well.

The Forty Days of Apostleship is designed to guide you to step into your spiritual power by encouraging you to expand your beliefs from merely believing in Jesus to also believing like Jesus. This vital shift undergirds your evolution from practicing the disciple’s faith to developing the faith of an apostle. This faith expansion gives you access to new perspectives, which provides you with access to further actions.

Believe in Your Divine Partnership

Jesus’ Belief: Divine Partnership

Jesus believed that he operated in divine partnership with God. Jesus believed that he was one with God: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) To those who doubted him, Jesus went on to say that this unity should be apparent through his many good works. I’m paraphrasing his words here, but he said—Look, even if you don’t believe my words, believe the pieces you’ve seen me do. You’ll then know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father. (John 10:38)

Jesus’ belief in divine partnership is manifested through both his words and his works. So, to begin to believe like Jesus, you’ll need to re-consider both your representations and your results as well.

Soul Work 

Here is the two-part process to take this soulful step of belief.

Words: First, personalize and put yourself into the scripture: “I and the Father are one.” For instance, “I, Rebekah, and the Father are one.” Meditate on, repeat, and reflect on the truth of these words. As you do, draw your awareness from your head to your heart. Your head—headquarters of fear and self-doubt—will probably want to talk you out of this. If so, turn to your heart—your local hub for God-consciousness and divine connection. Notice how your heart responds as you repeat these words.

Works:

  1. Second, consider the good works that you have already done.
  2. Include who you have prayed for, cared for, blessed, and contributed to.
  3. Include the projects you have undertaken, the leadership you have offered, and the behind-the-scenes know-how you have given.
  4. Make a list of these good works.
  5. Celebrate them.

I mean, celebrate them! Not for ego fulfillment but as a way of acknowledging your genuine partnership with God. Doing these good works could not have happened without a holy alliance between you and God.

Embrace the Belief

As you re-frame both your words and your works, there is one more step to begin to believe like Jesus. That is to fully embrace this Jesus-belief in divine partnership. For help with this, let’s turn to ancient wisdom.

The ancients have always understood that to be human is to house the Divine within, through the soul. More recent spiritual teachers have gently corrected this understanding: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience.” Whether the soul houses the body, or the body houses the soul, your soul is the spiritual counterpart to your physical being. Together, body and soul are the complete you.

Unity with God is more significant than what happens within your body or soul. As I note in Dream Like Jesus, “…if God is everywhere present, not a discrete being in the sky, but the quality of Being itself, that means that each of you is inside of God, and God is inside of each of you. You are surrounded by and saturated with Divine Power. Consider the vine and branches imagery in John 14:20. ‘I am in God, and God is in me, and you are in us. I am in you, and you are in me,’ Jesus says.”

Beliefs shape your thoughts; thoughts are the vessels of your actions, and actions demonstrate your beliefs. When you believe like Jesus, you will find that you can take new kinds of actions. Click To Tweet

Apostolic Action

Jesus taught the apostles of old how to do the things he did. And how to tap into the zone of the miraculous to do so. The apostles cast out demons, healed the sick and proclaimed the Kingdom. They had to believe as he did to accomplish these things.

Beliefs shape your thoughts; thoughts are the vessels of your actions, and actions demonstrate your beliefs. So, as you begin to believe like Jesus, you will find that you can take new kinds of actions.

As you grow in your belief in your partnership with the Divine, pay attention to new actions, the Spirit is prompting you to try. Again, preference the encouragements of your heart over the cautions of your head. For instance, what evil or injustice would you address? What kind of healing would you offer? What words of love or acts of hospitality would you risk?

Next, dare to put your emerging belief of divine partnership into action as we journey together during this Forty Days of Apostleship. Be sure to let me know how it goes!

Adapted from the forthcoming book, Believe Like Jesus © copyright 2020 Rebekah Simon-Peter

 

This Lent, Don’t Give Up Love

Judging by Facebook posts these days, puppies are in. People with whom you disagree are out. Love is in short supply. We’ve had it worn thin with “sex, lies and videotape.” But don’t give up on love. Jesus, above all else, was about love: love of God, love of people, love of self, and love of the unlovable. If we give up on love, we might as well give up on being Christian. It just doesn’t work.

You might think you can’t love the world, or your neighbors, the people who are very different from you. But you can learn how. Click To Tweet You don’t even have to know them. You certainly don’t need to like them. But you can love them, unconditionally.
How can your church show unconditional love these days?

1. Welcome in strangers like long-lost brothers and sisters. Rev. Roger Teel once shared how his wife carried around $5 bills to give to people standing on street corners. “How are you? It’s so good to see you!” she would exclaim. Like she knew them. Like she cared about them. What if we took this same attitude toward the strangers in our lives, pews, fellowship halls, and the like? Not only would we feel more affinity toward them, it would shift their attitude toward us.

2. Pray for people you resent or disagree with. Don’t pray for their heart to change. Rather pray for your heart to change toward them. Here’s how. First, write out the deepest desire of your heart—everything you want for yourself. Second, pray it with fervor and passion. Third, pray it one more time—for them.   Substitute their name for yours. This will soften your heart toward them such that you can begin to interact with them in a new way. Pray both prayers every day for 2 weeks. You will notice a significant shift. I prayed this sort of prayer for a colleague. While my resentment didn’t go away, I did notice this: how small and pitiful my own desires were for my life. It was a real “come to Jesus” moment. I realized I needed to stop being so afraid and so much in the victim mode. Click To Tweet I did later forgive my colleague. But first I had to get a hold of myself. How might your congregation change with this prayer practice? Only one way to find out.

3. Practice loving people as they are. For a whole day every time you catch yourself wanting to fix or change others, notice it, set it aside, and ask God to help you radiate love toward them.

4. Invite people to your church you wouldn’t be caught dead with. Maybe they’re up the socioeconomic ladder from you, or maybe they’re down the socioeconomic ladder from you. Or maybe they are someone you think judges you. Never mind. Invite them anyway. Again, this takes away conditions from our love of others, and creates the space of unconditional love.

It’s hard to love people, let alone like people. Liking people is overrated. Love is what is needed, unconditional love. This Lent, make a real difference in the world by not giving up love.  Or your neighborhood, or being the church!

Need some extra help? Learn how to use the Platinum Rule for Thriving Congregations. Or reach out to us. We’re here to empower church leaders and the congregations they serve!

This Lent, Don't Give Up Being the Church

There’s a lot of institutional despair these days.  “The church is dying, it’s in decline, it’s done for, it’s over.  The best days are behind us.” But what if all that’s just a story?  And not a very good one at that?  The church is only done-for if we say it is.
Here’s what I say:  This Lent, don’t give up being the church.  The truth is, there’s nothing to worry about.  Worry doesn’t solve problems anyway.  Trust, faith, and positive action do.  So here are some ways to increase your faith and trust in God.
Take Positive Actions
Make a list of all the things your church provides to the community and get loud and proud about it.  Don’t keep it to yourself.  Count up the number of people you have helped in the last 6 months and publish it.  Count up the number of prayers you have prayed and publicize it.  While you’re at it, count up the number of meals you have served, food baskets you have given out, flood buckets you have compiled, walks you have shoveled, hugs you have exchanged, cups of coffee you have served, stranded travelers you have aided, sick people you have visited, schoolkids you have tutored, funds you have gifted, Bible studies you have conducted, protests you have attended, “isms” you have surrendered, prayer shawls you have knitted, blankets you have blessed, quilts you have sewn, books you have donated, trespasses you have forgiven, neighbors you have assisted, letters you have written, mission trips you have taken, public acts of witness you have undertaken, kids you have taught, scriptures you have proclaimed, grieving families you have comforted, celebrating couples you have blessed, worried people you have calmed, PBJS’s you have made, homeless people you have befriended, persecuted people you have comforted, acts of injustice you have interrupted, wounds you have healed, and songs of praise you have sung.  Tally the numbers and write up that report!
Got it?
Now, let it sink in.  Doubtless, your congregation has generated a treasure trove of blessing which has radiated out far beyond your comprehension.  You have packed love and care into the stream of life.  You have partnered with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to channel extravagant blessing into the world. Allow yourselves to be touched and inspired by the knowledge that you are in fact making a difference.  Why would you ever want to stop being the church?
Trust and Trust Some More
Reinforce the good that you are already doing in the following ways.

  1.  Have church council meetings where you focus on all that you have accomplished rather than what isn’t going well.  See if that doesn’t shift the conversation in a positive way.
  2. Thank God for the good that has already been manifested through you, and all that God will continue to do through you.
  3. Refuse to worry about kids that aren’t coming, generations that are missing, funds that haven’t shown up yet, and committees that aren’t filled.  Trust that God has already heard and is answering your prayers.  Then re-focus on what is going well and right.  Be delighted and surprised when what you need shows up.

None of this is to say that there aren’t ways we can be more responsive, and things we can’t improve.  We absolutely can.  But taking positive actions and trusting God is far more likely to strengthen and empower you to take those steps than is indulging in worry or blame.  When you are ready to take next steps to create a culture of renewal in your congregation and community, please be in touch.
Creating a Culture of Renewal is designed to empower you to take a quantum leap of faith into dreaming like Jesus, manifesting the kingdom in miraculous ways, and creating a world that works for everyone—with no one and nothing left out!  You’re farther on your way than you imagine.  If you’d like to be part of a worldwide movement to shift the conversation about the value of church, please join us!  We’re here to empower and serve you.  Early Bird rates are available through March 31.
Curious about the other things to not give up for Lent? So far, I encourage you to not give up your voice, or your neighborhood.

This Lent, Don't Give Up Your Neighborhood

I don’t care if your congregation is in an industrial section, a racially mixed or changing neighborhood, on the edge of town, or in a suburban
enclave.  This Lent, don’t give up your neighborhood.  It’s one of 5 things your church absolutely shouldn’t give up this Lent.  Why?   Your neighbors need you.  And you need them.
The church is nothing without neighbors.  We don’t exist in a vacuum.  We’re all about community.  The community that is calling you now is right outside your door.  Not across the world.
This Lent, I challenge you to get local and reach out to your neighbors, not someone else’s neighbors.  I don’t care if it’s been years since you stepped foot in your neighborhood, or all the people who attend your church have long since relocated to other neighborhoods.  The folks who live and work around your building are still your people.  “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood…. Generous inside and out, true from start to finish,” John 1:14 reveals.  It’s time for you to do the same.
Do you remember the scene from the movie Sister Act in which the cloistered nuns stepped out of their gated building and into their seemingly unsafe neighborhood? It’s the point at which the movie became really interesting.  Turns out the neighborhood wasn’t unwelcoming.  The nuns simply hadn’t shown that they were that interested before.  Real human connections formed.  Offers of friendship, food and play led to shared worship, music and prayer.  Once the nuns claimed the neighborhood, the neighborhood claimed the nuns and their message.
The same is true in your neighborhood.  They may not know it until you show up, but they are ready for you.
This Lent, take the neighborhood challenge.  Get to know people who live and work around your congregation.  Walk down the main thoroughfares.  See who you can meet. How do they get around?  On bikes?  Busses?  Tractors?  Horses?  By Foot?  By car?  Is the area rural or urban or industrial or just plain isolated?  Is your neighborhood poor or well to do?  Are you surrounded by office buildings, apartment buildings, store-fronts, single-family homes, cow pastures, or highways?
A curious passerby once asked Jesus a question, “Who is my neighbor?”  After telling a long story about a man who was beaten and robbed on his way to Jericho, the answer emerged: “The one who acts like a neighbor.”
In one large church I served, we didn’t act much like a neighbor.  The building was situated on a hill up above a busy highway.  We were at least a quarter mile from any other building.  We had to go further down the road to actually see homes and shops.   While most folks who worshiped at the church actually lived in the community, in some important ways the congregation was disconnected from the people they were there to serve.  We would undertake mission trips to some far-off deserving place, but never show our love locally.   I think both the church and the neighborhood missed out that way.
The next church I served was also set up on a hill, located out of sight on the far edge of town.  It was more isolated, and yet acted much more neighborly.  A laundromat, an RV park and hospital were fairly close by, but no nearby neighbors.  That didn’t stop this group of hardy Wyomingites.  They were more than willing to find people in town who wanted to connect.  We attracted people through summer Worship in the Park, seasonal outreach to apartment dwellers, and home improvement projects for senior citizens.  We went into the state penitentiary at Christmas time and at other times of year for Bible study.
Our neighbors noticed our efforts.  When the time came, our neighbors reached out to us.  They came to us for assistance with funerals, weddings, prayer concerns, and hospital visits.  I’m proud of that congregation.  They didn’t give up on their neighborhood.  In turn, the neighborhood didn’t give up on the church.  The community is richer for it.
Here’s what’s interesting.  The first church that traveled afar to show love was situated in a more churched part of the country.   They could easily have reached out locally and been well-received.  The second church was situated in a very unchurched, even de-churched part of the country.  Yet they had far more connection with their community.  The point is that people, all kinds of people, respond to love.  They respond to genuine caring.  They respond to authentic interest in their well-being.  Isn’t that what we have to offer?
This Lent, don’t give up your neighborhood.  You’re there for a reason.  It just might be that your neighbors need you.  And that you need them.

5 Things Your Church Shouldn't Give Up for Lent

During this season of Lent, people of faith are considering what to give up. In years past, I have given up despair, hopelessness, and the occasional chocolate donut. I have even tried taking things on, when giving something up felt self-defeating. But this year, I want to make the case for 5 things your church definitely should not give up for Lent.
Give up diet sodas, but don’t give up these things: your voice, your neighborhood, being the church, people and love.   This week, I’ll lay out the case for not giving up your voice. As Lent unfolds, I’ll address the additional 4 things.
This Lent, don’t give up your voice. As United Methodists we take a vow to resist evil and injustice in whatever forms they present themselves. If you are uncertain about how to resist evil while not alienating folks, please read about how to take an ethical stance on tough issues by working with the Wesleyan quadrilateral. Don’t shy away from talking about volatile issues such as gun violence simply because everyone might not agree. Agreement is not required. In fact, competing ideas and conflicting messages underscore the need for your clear and courageous voice to be heard.
I know it takes courage to raise your voice. I know it takes time to figure out a faithful response.   Please garner the courage and take the time to make your voice heard. It matters.
Here’s what’s at stake: If you silence your voice in the world, then you abdicate your place at the community table.   No one is asking you to do that. Your community needs you—more than they know and probably more than you know. Please don’t complain that no one listens to you anymore if you aren’t in fact speaking up.
The challenge is how to articulate your vision and stake your claim without making others wrong. Note: making others wrong gets people riled up. They’ll simply want to make you wrong, in turn. That won’t get you anywhere. I don’t believe you have to make enemies of people with whom you disagree in order to take a principled stance on matters of justice.
Here are three suggestions for how to claim your voice without stomping on other people:

  1. Proclaim your vision of the Kingdom. Let it transcend the current reality and paint a new picture of what is possible. In Dr. King’s day, civil rights activists were met with water hoses, attack dogs, tear gas, and swinging police batons. Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech posited a future reality in which sons of former slaves and former slave owners would be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. What’s your dream?
  1. Frame your message with Gospel values. At the same time, don’t assume that people who see things differently than you do don’t also abide by Gospel values. They probably do. They simply may not think about things in the same way that you do.   Respecting people with whom you disagree will elevate the dialogue. I lived in Colorado when the Family Values movement was in full swing. This was long before twitter and hashtags. It was interesting how competing bumper stickers proclaimed both “Homosexuality is not a family value” and “Hate is not a family value.” Because of the way they were worded, I’m not sure either one left room for faithful disagreement.
  1. Leave room for disagreement. Create a space in which people can join you even if they don’t fully agree with you. It’s not necessary to have total consensus in order to work together.   Some of my dearest friends and I disagree on important topics including appropriate human sexuality, to biblical interpretation, to the nature of God, to the existence of heaven and hell, to the veracity of climate change, to the power of prayer.   But we don’t allow our differences of opinion to kill the relationship. The truth is, we see eye to eye on most other things. We have left room for disagreement. It works for us.

As you practice using your voice, you’ll develop your own list of what works and what doesn’t. The point is to start speaking up and speaking out. Keep your seat at the table. Your community is listening.

Love Like Jesus: 5th Quantum Leap of Faith

On Ash Wednesday, we remember how Jesus loved sacrificially.  Jesus loved God, his neighbors, and even his enemies.  His love for us has transformed the world.  

As powerful as these forms of love are, though, there is another kind of love Jesus practiced that is even more powerful.  And more rare.  This love is the 5th quantum leap of faith Jesus invites us to make.  All other attempts at love are diminished without this particular expression of love.

It’s tucked into Jesus’ most famous teaching on love:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself.

Most of us—even the highly accomplished among us—can’t help but compare ourselves to others or put ourselves down.  We make a national pastime of beating ourselves up.  We can’t help it.  It seems to be part of the human condition.

Each one of us has an internal voice that judges, assesses, and evaluates.  It’s bad enough when we turn that voice on others: “Boy, they’re never going to make it; those poor souls, what’s wrong with them? Why does he always have to look so ridiculous?  Why does she DO that?  I’m glad I don’t look like that, act like that, talk like that, eat like that, or live like that.”  

But the internal voice is downright abusive when we turn it on ourselves: “Geez, you really look fat in those jeans.  Look how old you are getting.  Rebekah, why did you say that out loud?  Now everyone is going to think you are stupid.  I’m not a very good friend.  Why can’t you be more like him?”  And on and on and on.  We say the sort of thing to ourselves we would never allow others to say to us.

Can you imagine Jesus having that sort of internal dialogue?

Can you imagine Jesus saying to himself: “Geez, what a jerk I am.  I know Peter would have stayed on top of the water, if I had just been more caring or instructive or given him more faith. What’s wrong with me?  I know the disciples could’ve cast out the demons on the first try; I am a terrible teacher.  If only I was a better lover of God they wouldn’t be marching me off to the cross right now.”  Me neither. 

“But Jesus was God,” you protest, “Of course he didn’t put himself down.” Yes, Jesus was fully divine. But he was also fully human.  That means he must have had that internal voice too. 

I wonder if that’s what the story of the temptation in the wilderness is all about.  The voice of the tempter tries to lure Jesus into breaking his sacred connection with God.  Jesus resists at every turn, instead, elevating God’s word and voice above the destructive one at hand.  

Deep down inside, Jesus knew he was one with God, one with the Spirit, and one with all Creation.  That knowledge allowed him to transcend the constant negativity that so many of us are saddled with. 

Jesus wouldn’t be able to love God or us very well if he was constantly putting himself down. True love of others doesn’t flow well from self-denigration.  True love of God is almost impossible from a foundation of self-hate.  I believe Jesus was able to love us fully because he didn’t waste any time hating himself or putting himself down. Nor did he blame God for the way things were going in his life. 

Do you want to love like Jesus?  Then it’s time to take the last quantum leap of faith. To love like Jesus means to love ourselves, and our neighbors, and God.  No one of the three kinds of love can be left out.   

So how do we love ourselves?  First, notice negative self-talk when it begins.  Don’t let it go unchallenged.   Second, surrender it to God.  Only a spiritual connection can adequately counteract that voice.  Third, laugh at it.  Seriousness intensifies the voice.  Taking it lightly is essential to disarming it.

Though we may never be able to turn off the judging, assessing and evaluating completely, with conscious practice, we can turn the volume of negativity way, way down.   It’s all about practicing grace with ourselves, and others.

When we practice self-hate, self-neglect, self-abasement, or self-denigration, we harm and damage ourselves.  When we practice self-love, we increase our ability to love others.  On this Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day it’s clear that more love—not more negativity—is what’s needed. 

Ready, set, leap!