We Are Not “the Borg”!

Posted On August 30, 2020

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. . . .”

Romans 12:4-6 NIV

In case you are not as much of a Star Trek nerd as I am, here is a little introduction to the Borg collective:

The Borg are made up of cybernetic organisms who have been “assimilated” into the collective. All individuality is stripped away as each person is linked in and transformed into a drone, part of the hive mind.

The Borg are forced into a dull, colorless existence. In their world everyone is the same and everyone is expendable. When Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation is assimilated into the collective, he delivers to his former crew on the Enterprise the harsh reality that awaits them as the Borg prepare to invade their ship.

It gives me chills just watching it. The thought of being absorbed into a collective, losing my personality and my uniqueness, losing my will and being forced to serve as a mindless drone is terrifying. I’m glad the Borg are fictional! But I wonder how many of us sometimes feel that way about serving in the church — like becoming Christians means we have to lose our individual wills and personalities and serve the “collective” — like once we “drink the Kool-Aid” we’ll never be the same again. We’ll just be shells of our former selves, no longer allowed to have any fun or do what we want.

Well, this couldn’t be further from the truth! God doesn’t want us to give up who we are in order to serve Him. He’s the One who gave us our unique personalities, talents, and abilities. He doesn’t want to stifle them. He wants us to use them. In fact, He wants us to enjoy using them. He wants us to find personal fulfillment in doing His work. And He doesn’t ever force us to do anything against our wills. He patiently waits for us to come to Him. He wants us to love Him and serve Him freely . . . because we choose to, not because we have to. He wants us to share our uniqueness with the rest of His children, in the church and in the world.

The church is not the Borg. It’s quite the opposite! It’s a beautiful kaleidoscope of extraordinary people with colorful personalities and special talents. It’s a place where no one is expendable. Each one of us plays a unique and vital role. We’re not expected to give up life as we know it. We’re called to use the life we know — our jobs, our talents, our abilities — in new and exciting ways for God’s glory and to help others. Discovering God’s purpose for my life is the most fulfilling and personally satisfying thing I can do, and the same is true for you. The same is true for each individual one of us!

“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”

Colossinas 1:16 MSG

We Are Unique

“As with the human body, so the body of Christ is a complete organism made by God. Yet each member of the body is unique. There can never be another ‘you’ or ‘me.’ In a sense, your gift or mine is unique. God often gives similar gifts to different people, but there is a uniqueness about this that makes each of us distinct from any other person who has ever lived. And if any one of us is missing, the body is incomplete, lacking some part.”

Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit

Max Lucado in his book Cure for the Common Life talks about how to find your “sweet spot,” your perfect place in the universe where everything just makes sense. He tells us that God “tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle.” How do we find our place? By discovering our uniqueness. We each have “a divine spark” and a “special way of serving others.” When we uncover our special talents, abilities, and passions and use them to serve God every day, we live the best life possible, the life God planned for us. Rev. Lucado explains: “Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it). At the convergence of all three, you’ll find the cure for the common life: your sweet spot.”

God gives us our unique personalities and talents in order to do His work. We aren’t given these gifts just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others. Everyone is important and everyone’s contribution matters. In 1 Corinthians, Paul compares the particular roles we have in the church to parts of the body:

“The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.”

1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG

Paul also explains the value this gives us as unique members of the church. Unlike the Borg, we are not just expendable drones, easily replaced. We each have an important job, and if we do not do it, the entire body suffers.

“I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. . . . But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.”

1 Corinthians 12:14, 19-20 MSG

In The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren reminds us that we were designed by God to make a difference. We are here to contribute. As he points out, “Service is the pathway to real significance. It is though ministry that we discover the meaning of our lives. . . . As we serve together in God’s family, our lives take on eternal importance.” God wants to work through us. He planned our lives before we were ever born. He has a plan for each of us, and He created us to fulfill it. Rick Warren explains: “Not only did God shape you before your birth, he planned every day of your life to support his shaping process. . . . This means that nothing that happens in your life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold you for your ministry to others and shape you for your service to him.” He wants us to use the gifts He gave us for His glory. Each one of us is called to serve others in a unique way. If we don’t accept our roles, no one else can.

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.”

Psalm 139:13-16 MSG

We Each Have a Unique “SHAPE”

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

Rick Warren describes the “custom combination of capabilities” God gives us as our “SHAPE.” As believers, we are each given Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experience. When God assigns us a job, He makes sure we are equipped for it.

• Spiritual Gifts: These are special gifts given by God only to believers for the purpose of serving others. You can read about them in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. We all receive different gifts, and no one person receives them all. God instructs us to discover and use our spiritual gifts because they are given to us to benefit others.
• Heart: As Rev. Warren explains, “The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections you have.” This is what we love to do, what we are passionate about. We should consider how our interests can be used to serve God and bring Him glory. He gave us a love for the things He wants us to do.
• Abilities: Our abilities are the God-given talents we were born with. They’re the things we’re good at. God wants us to use them in His work. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV), Paul tells us, “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Our abilities give us a good idea of what God wants us to do with our lives.
• Personality: God uses all types of personalities in His work. Just read the Bible for proof of that! Without this crazy assortment of dispositions, the church would be a really boring place. (In fact, it would be very Borg-like!) And it would not be as effective. The church needs all of us. It needs all of our temperaments and character traits. Rick Warren describes the beauty of this diversity: “Like stained glass, our different personalities reflect God’s light in many colors and patterns. This blesses the family of God with depth and variety. It also blesses us personally. It feels good to do what God made you to do.”
• Experience: Our experiences shape us. God allows all kinds of experiences in our lives to mold us and prepare us for the work He wants us to do. Rick Warren encourages us to examine our family experiences, educational experiences, vocational experiences, spiritual experiences, ministry experiences, and especially our painful experiences in order to determine the ways we may be called to serve. He points out: “It is this last category, painful experiences, that God uses the most to prepare you for ministry. God never wastes a hurt! In fact, your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt.” He also reminds us that we must be willing to share our experiences in order for God to use them.

God has a plan for each of us, and He’s equipped us for it in a personalized way. Taking the time to discover our unique SHAPE will lead to unimaginable blessings, not only for others, but for us too! God calls us to use the gifts He gives us for His glory and to accomplish His will. As Rick Warren explains: “Using your shape is the secret of both fruitfulness and fulfillment in ministry. You will be most effective when you use your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of your heart’s desire, and in a way that best expresses your personality and experiences. The better the fit, the more successful you will be.”

“Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!”

1 Corinthians 12:7 MSG

This week’s Scripture references encourage us to focus on our uniqueness and how we can use our extraordinary gifts to serve. There is a printer-friendly pdf version below the image. I have also posted a video of the choir Camden Voices doing a virtual performance of “True Colors.” This song reminds us that God sees our true colors and to Him they are beautiful!

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:14 NIV

References:

• Graham, Billy. The Holy Spirit. Word Books, 1978.
• “I am Locutus of Borg | Star Trek Next Gen.” YouTube, uploaded by I SAID, 6 September 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zobJgwPeASA.
• Lucado, Max. Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot. W Publishing Group,
• “star trek picard – we are borg.” YouTube, uploaded by unitor699, 14 March 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUTeO6VpDcc.
• “True Colors – Camden Voices (self-isolation/virtual choir cover).” YouTube, uploaded by Camden Voices, 22 March 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqWQCWc_zCc.
• Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Zondervan, 2002.
• “We are the Borg.” YouTube, uploaded by Khoralle, 20 May 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww.

Images:

• Featured Image: Borg Cube image from https://www.maxpixel.net/Sci-Fi-Spock-Borg-Spaceship-Space-Enterprise-5108780
• Featured Image: Space Background image by Pexels from Pixabay
• DNA image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
• Stained Glass image by MichaelGaida from Pixabay