My job as a pastor, preacher, public theologian, author, and activist is to invite folks into the story of God loving and healing the world and counting on us to be partners in that work.
Here’s what I mean. Some people think of themselves in relationship to a god who is waiting to reward them or punish them, depending on what they do and the god’s mood. Some see themselves as puppets — that God has already predestined their future, and they are just being moved about with no choice. Some people think of God as a mean “Daddy” who will punish all the people they hate.
The story I try to impress upon folks is that we are Beloved Partners who have agency, choice, gifts, and callings that we must use to heal ourselves and the world. This partnership is our responsibility. This partnership is our privilege. We are called to partnership — like Moses was a partner, liberating God’s people from enslavement; like Mary was a partner, giving birth to a revolution of values; like Hagar, who — although kicked out of Sarah and Abraham’s house because she was pregnant with Ishmael — partnered with God to save her baby and became the matriarch of Islam; like Paul, who had a transformational experience and stopped torturing the people who followed Jesus and became an advocate for this new way of life; like Rabbi Jesus, who partnered with God to grow a movement of love and justice.
To be sure, there is more than one narrative strand in the scriptures I preach, but this partnership strand is the one that transformed my life. It gave me power over my circumstances, liberating me to march for justice when I was a child; to stand up for myself in the face of abuse; to forgive myself when I failed; and to start fresh, believing that God wanted me to live, to flourish, to be a change agent.
This partnership with God gives me and my community agency and imagination to work for voters’ rights, to stand up for trans siblings, to support Palestinians and Jews around the globe, to demand peace in war-torn places, and to be in the streets to perfect our union.
Our partnership with God (the Holy Other, Higher Power, G-D, Jehovah, Allah; whatever you name that mystery) for whom my favorite name is Love means we are leaders, family. And if you don’t believe in God, it’s cool — atheists and agnostics hear me say that we are all responsible for healing ourselves and the world.
The place where our hearts are broken? Pay attention to that. Go there. We are powerful in that broken place; our superpowers flow from that broken place. Our anger and rage result from that broken place and we can channel those feelings to fuel our activism.
Of course, we are angry and sad at the state of our nation and world today. Yes, we have grief and frustration. Of course, there are days when we just want to put our heads in our hands or stay in bed. But our ancestors were partners with God. Their grief was acute and prophetic. Their prophetic grief opened their eyes and hearts wide enough to expect a better world and to work to make it happen. Their grief was a portal to a vision of a preferred reality. They could weep and wipe their tears and move toward the better day. They reminded themselves of the stories of the partners before them who marched when tired, who protested when frightened, who wrote policy and music, who made art and food for their families, who sang and danced and prayed their hope in the face of despair.
Psychologist Howard Thurman says leaders tell compelling stories that change the stories that already exist in the minds of followers. I believe people want and need stories that are authentic and true; stories that answer their existential questions, and make sense of their lives. Being leaders means changing the story. That’s what Cory Booker did for 25 hours and 4 minutes recently. That’s what John Lewis and Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, Ella Baker, Ruby Sales, and Martin Luther King Jr. did. That’s what Toni Morrison and James Baldwin did. That’s what Issa Rae and Charles Randolph Wright do now.
That’s what we must do.
We need a new story in this nation. Most of America’s peoples, it might be said, yearned for the story that has been called the American Dream. That mythical story promises equality to a broad diversity of races and ethnicities, and accommodates differences in physical and mental ability, gender and sexual orientations, religions and beliefs. That story promises the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That story promises freedom to live, work, learn, play, and grow where one chooses. That story promises that each of us can worship the god of our choice, in the way that we choose, or choose not to believe in God at all. Many of us have become clear that the so-called American Dream is a nightmare for most of us.
We need a new story — one not founded on white supremacy and domination. One grounded in respect and mutual flourishing. We need a new story formed by a fundamental belief that humans are wonderful, that we need each other to survive, and that we are called to protect and steward each other and creation. We need a new story in which we are protagonists, not puppets.
We don’t have apathy in this new story; we have agency. We are tired in this story, but we take a break and then we jump back in, and we wrestle with injustice until we defeat it. We fight until freedom comes for all of us.
I’m in the business of changing the story. You are, too. This is our responsibility as humans on the planet. Let’s go!
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is senior minister and public theologian at Middle Church in New York. She champions racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQIA+/gender rights. Featured on MSNBC, PBS, NBC, CBS, and NPR, she is the author of several books, including “Fierce Love” and the “Just Love Story Bible.” Countless individuals and communities. She inspires through her podcast, “Love Period”; in columns and articles; and on stages, in churches, on the street, and in digital spaces around the globe.