Uniqueness: The Treasure

[HKHaugan]

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (Jn.14:1-2 NIV).”

 

I’m looking at ‘the many rooms’ Jesus is preparing for us in the Kingdom.  That phrase carries the exciting experience of recognized uniqueness.  Every believer has a room in the Kingdom.  When I think of those rooms I am reminded that they are unique, spiritual, personal, permanent, eternal, special.  This reminds me further that the room we live in now is temporary.  Scripture has a name for it.  It tells us about the equipment He has given us to travel in the wilderness that is this world.  “¹² So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, ¹⁴ because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me (2Pet.1:12-14 NIV).”  Yes, we live in a ‘tent.’  But let’s extend that idea a bit. Let’s consider the spiritual implications.

 

First, every relationship is a field or forest in which we set up those tents.  Every relationship is unique because every tent is unique.  Just as the Hebrews were led through the wilderness on their journey toward the promised land and set up tents along the way not only to rest as individuals and families but also to worship, we need to see the spiritual parallel.   First, the tent is our individual body. Second, it is a spiritual family like a congregation, a home church and a prayer group.  Third, and most importantly, it is the Body of Christ, the whole “Tent” that is worldwide.  Our part in each is unique. 

 

Second, each ‘tent’ has a unique calling in a unique neighborhood, community and nation.  We are planted in a body, in a place, in a time and group.  There is no moment in history that is the same.  Each moment is unique.  We were made to be unique in Jesus, the Unique One.

 

Third, each ‘tent’ is filled with the provisions that enable ministry.  They are spiritual gifts, the fruit of the Spirit (the atmosphere in which the gifts operate), the Word which feeds our mind, prayer which opens the heart and faith that propels the spirit.  The uniqueness of each tent is designed by the Creator to fit in with every other ‘tent’ in the caravan, the Body of Christ.

 

The implications of uniqueness impact how we view other human beings.  We believe, we learn, we share.  The caravan is the Body of Christ.  It is on a journey, a spiritual journey, always on the move and unique in its movement through the world’s wilderness.  It carries a theme and that is that every individual being created by a unique God deserves to be seen from the perspective of uniqueness since that is His design.  Every human being is unique in the context of history and therefore needs to hear the Gospel so that their uniqueness is fulfilled.

 

Uniqueness requires a change in attitude in how we approach non-believers.  Whereas before, we may have looked at them not having what we have, which means we can come across as condescending. 

 

Every person is born into a unique time and a place, no other.  So their uniqueness needs to be spiritually tapped just because this is their now, their present. The same as it is our now, our present. And we may just be the one who is the intended spiritual point of contact for that person.  This is how being on the move is spiritual.  The Holy Spirit is moving relentlessly forward to accomplish the Lord’s mission.  The caravan never stops.

 

“For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (2Cor.5:4 NIV).”

 

And the great promise that awaits each in their uniqueness,

“Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them (Rev.7:15 NIV).”