Needy

          Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

          One of the features of the New Covenant is that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer. Earlier in Ephesians, Paul tells us that the Spirit has been given to us as a seal. If you will, there is an individual application of the Spirit. There is also a corporate (group) application, as described in the metaphor Paul uses today.

          Paul uses metaphors a lot. Here, he describes us in terms of being a building. Elsewhere, it is as a body, an organism. Both are crucial: unity and diversity, one and many. This is a motif that spans both the universe and Scripture. The Trinity, three-in-one. Man and woman become one flesh. Multiple skin tones, one race. Comparatively few genomes, wide variety of creatures. And how many creatures does it take to keep an environment healthy?

          In today’s passage, the focus is on the many being united by the Spirit. One Spirit. The same Spirit in you and in me. That Spirit is just as able to do in you what He can do in me. He could make each of us into independent units, directly giving you everything you need, and me everything I need, so that we have no need for anyone but Him, but He doesn’t. He gives you a tender heart, and me an analytical mind. He makes me a servant, and you a servant, not only so we can serve Him, but so that we can serve one another – so we must serve one another.

          He could have made it so it was all about our loving Him. Instead, He made us in His image, which means that we must love one another. We are designed to love not just the One deserving of our love, but the ones not so deserving and the ones who need something from us. If we don’ t love those, who don’t love like God loves. So, the Spirit doesn’t meet all our needs miraculously and by Himself. Most of the tie, He meets them through the person who is the next “brick in the wall.” That means that when you see someone with a need, it’s a chance to be like God. And when you have a need, it’s an opportunity for someone else to be like God.

          We tend to encounter two problems” egotistical independence and egotistical dependence. Some people have to do everything for themselves.  Others won’t or can’t do anything for themselves. I often feel like the latter, but live the former. It’s vital to my ego to be competent, and I suspect that by competent, I mean “expert.” At the same time, whenever I’m around others, I’m even more likely to try to convince them how absolutely needy I am. The point is that we are all designed as a mixture of competence and neediness, so that we can fit together as a puzzle, or a wall. It’s one of those things that we all need to get used to, and to welcome in both ourselves and others.