Who are you?, pt. 1

September 22, 1:20 PMFaith & Culture ExaminerDr. Bob Beltz

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                            My not-so-little black book

I have a little black book. It actually is not all that little, and it doesn’t contain the kind of information that those other kinds of little black books contain. I’m happily married and would like to keep it that way, so I don’t need or want one of those. My not-so-little black book is a spiritual journal that I try to keep with me at all times. Over the last few years I have attempted to capture the most significant thoughts and ideas that have shaped my spiritual life in this book. I also have pages in it that remind me of major themes I need to pray about, and notes about more specific issues I want to talk to God about on a regular basis.

This morning I was pondering a decision I need to make and ran across one of my favorite spiritual truths.  I thought I would share it with you. It is a foundational concept for living our lives in a way that reflects who we truly are. It is a quote from Evelyn Underhill and it goes like this:

We are the creative apparatus of God. He made us in order to use us, and use us in the most profitable way; for his purpose, not ours. To live a spiritual life means subordinating all other interests to that single fact.

Because my not-so-little black book is very personal, I have changed the word “us” in the quote to the word “me.” Who are you? Who am I? I am “the creative apparatus of God.” You are “the creative apparatus of God.” Cool, isn’t it? Since most of us suffer from what Margaret Feinberg calls “chronic, spiritual, short-term memory loss” we should figure out a way to be reminded every day that this is who we really are. I want those words, “creative apparatus of God” to be on my mind when I get out of bed in the morning. I want them to stay on my mind as I leave the house and head to the office. I want them to pop into my consciousness throughout the day as I make decisions that determine the course of the day, the week, the month, the year, the decade, and whatever time I have left on the planet. In the words of Evelyn Underhill, I want to” subordinate all other interests to that single fact.”

This past Sunday I taught at Highline Community Church in Centennial, Colorado. I attempted to “unpack” a text in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians where the Apostle Paul gives a description of the New Testament church that is quite different from what most of us experience in the church in the modern western world. I attempted to teach the group that when someone asks them where they go to church, they should be thinking, “I don’t go to church – I am the church!” I also wanted them to get a handle on the truth that the accurate biblical answer to the question, “Who is the minister at your church?” is: “Me!” These answers are based on the data Paul gives in this text. The “church” biblically is organic, not organizational. The metaphor he uses is that of a body. I’m convinced it is more than a metaphor, but for now my point is that what we think of as the members of the church are not people who have joined an organization. They are literally “members” of a spiritual entity called the body of Christ. The meaning of the word “member” in this context is same as talking about your arm being a member of your body.  It is organically connected to the body and is a critical part of the body functioning properly.

If you are a follower of Jesus, in a biblical sense, you don’t go to church; you are the church – or at least a vital part of it. The person standing up front (another product of the cultural evolution of how we “do” church) is not the minister. Everyone that is part of this spiritual body is a minister. You and I are the creative apparatus of God. He created us to use us in ways that will lead to the health and productivity of this Body and be blessing to the world. When we fail to understand this, and treat “church” as a spectator event, the Body becomes handicapped, the purposes of God remain unfulfilled, and we fail to be that which we were designed and created to be: the creative apparatus of God.