Three In One (Not So Hard To Believe)

           There are many aspects of the Christian faith that seem beyond reason or explanation and it’s because of this, many might be persuaded to either reject the truths or the faith altogether.  A great many of us are so arrogant, that if we cannot personally be convinced of a matter, then the conclusion we reach is that the matter itself must not be true.

What such a person is saying, is that they are the ultimate decipherer of truth in the universe, and if they cannot be convinced, then it is simply not so. I once had a coworkers say just as much.  “If something can be proven to me, then I’ll believe it.  If it can’t be proven, then I don’t believe it.”  If you knew the man, you would know he believed a lot of things that have not been proven.  If he were to be more accurate in his phrasing he would have said, “If I can be convinced of something, then I will believe it.”

                One of the greatest unreasonable things that Christians believe, is the very person of God Himself.  They (or we, depending on whether you count yourself among them) describe Him as being a God of three persons.  Different terms are used to describe it, such as three in one, triune or the trinity.

                I have heard different explanations and each of them prove to be deficient in some way.  I have believed in the three in one God, even though I don’t completely understand it all.  Some might think me stupid or a moron for accepting something I do not understand.  When I read atheist writings, they often describe Christians as a people of little intellect.  If you believe me to be such a person, I am fine with that.  I am also fine if you are the type who thinks that anything beyond your understanding must not exist.

 When we speak of the trinity, we speak of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.    We say that The Father is God.  We say that Jesus, the Son, is God.  We go on to say that the Holy Spirit is God. We go farther to say that they can be collectively described as God.  As for this trinity, I’m certain that we ourselves are the very best illustration of His three in one identity, and I believe this for two reasons.  The first reason is scripture itself, and the second reason is the very practicality of what we represent as that illustration.

                “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us...”” Genesis 1:26

                I am known to be neither a scholar, nor a theologian, so if you have heard a better explanation from your favourite Bible teacher, then go with the illustration they have given you.  In a very literal sense, we human beings were made to be like “them”, and the “them” being the three person God.

                So the story we read of our creation isn’t that of a singular person creating something entirely different than that of Himself.  I have just said two fairly significant things.  I have said, as I see here in scripture that God is not alone, in that He speaks to and with Himself as, “us”.  I have also said that we are “like” Him, and that Him, being both Him, and “them”.  There is one other element of this short passage that I don’t wish to overlook.  It is also very apparent that He is uniquely aware of His three personages.

                If we humans are like Him, then we are the best examples in this world of what His person is and is not.  He is not a dog who made a race of kittens.  Neither is He a space lizard who made a world of tin soldiers.  I have heard much more learned Christians say this is what He did, that He made an entirely different kind of creature than that of Himself.  I just don’t see it.  We were made to be like Him, and if you are following closely to what I am saying, you might be ready for what I am about to say next.

                You, are a three in one person.

                What I’m sharing here isn’t anything all that new or radical among Christians, even though I have yet to hear it explained in this way.  As I walk through how it works, I believe all people will follow me on some level, and even many people who are not Christians might see how practical it is to view ourselves as three in one.  We are not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as God is, but we are body, mind and spirit.  We are not God, or little God’s but we are the part of creation which best resembles Him.

The Body

I think all people of all beliefs would agree with me that we have a body.  I have a body.  If you are reading this, you have a body.  In fact, everyone I have ever met has a body.  Even though I “have” a body, I don’t speak of it in the same way that I do when I say that I “have” a car.

I do have a car.  I own the car.  I pay for it.  I fix it.  I licence it, drive it and put fuel in the tank.  I also have a wife, yet having her is much different than having a car.  I do not own her, renew her license or fill her with gasoline, but we do belong to each other and do many wonderful things.  Forgive me if I do not elaborate too much on the wonderful things we do together.

When it comes to my body, there is a much more personal way that I “have” it, to where I don’t even describe it as something I have at all.  When I look in the mirror, I never look at it thinking, “There is the body that belongs to me.”  No.  I look in the mirror thinking it’s me.  You no doubt think the same.  When you look at me, you probably don’t say to yourself, “Hey!  There is Kevin’s body!!”  You are much more likely to say, “Hey!  There is Kevin!!”

At least, that’s how I see you.  If I say that I saw you today, it is because I saw your body, and I make no distinction between that, your spirit or your mind.  Your body is you, even though it isn’t all that you are. There is much more to you than your body, which is why pornography is so revolting, in that it reduces people to being bodies alone.

The Mind

                I’m certain that all people will also agree with me on this point, that we have minds.  There may be some people we think to be brainless, but that’s more a thing of insult than actual fact.  So even a person who believes absolutely nothing about spiritual things would have to see we are at least two in one beings.

                Just as we have bodies, we also have minds.  And just as our bodies are not objects to be owned, neither are our minds.  I am not a physician, but our minds are very much intertwined with our bodies.  Our thinking generally takes place in our brain.  When we allow our body parts to do the thinking and directing for us, horrible things can come of it.

                My mind may work different than your mind.  If that is the case, I think you are the abnormal one.  When my mind thinks of itself, it does not think of itself as being my mind.  My mind thinks of and refers to itself as “me”.  The thoughts I have are not my body’s thoughts.  My mind says its thoughts are my thoughts.  After all, it is me.  It has a very different function than my body, but it’s me.  My body and my fingers are tying out this letter, but as you read it, you aren’t thinking, “Gee.  What a great letter Kevin’s body has typed out.” 

                My body did not come up with this letter, and neither should it get the credit for it.  I came up with these ideas in my mind, which is both me, yet is completely at work with and intertwined with my body.

The Spirit

                This is where I will lose a lot of people in this world, and to be honest, describing how we can recognize and acknowledge our spirit is a challenge.  Many see nothing about us beyond our mind and body, but Christians, along with a great many others acknowledge a spiritual dimension to who we are.  As Christians, it appears that we were created to live.  To explain it another way, there is a person of us that will exist forever.  That person, is our spirit.

                Recognizing and connecting with the eternal me is tougher than recognizing our bodies or the work of our minds, and it can be a painful exercise for anyone who wants to live life for themselves, without regard for what eternity might hold for them.

                God is aware of His three in one person in a way that we are not, and I guess that is why we have such a challenge understanding Him as triune. Our spirit connects quite intimately with our minds, to where it is difficult even to notice their interaction.   Our spirit is eternal, so it thinks, acts and reasons with an eternal perspective.  I will do my best to give a few examples of how we can recognize its person.

                When I was young, I clearly remember wanting to reach the upper kitchen cupboard.  My mom would keep the cookies in that cupboard, because I assume she knew I couldn’t reach them there.  Even at 4 years of age, I felt that there was an injustice about the situation.  Just because I was 4, I shouldn’t be limited to this small frame I was living in.  It wasn’t fair that a grown woman was able to reach the cookies, and I could not.  My spirit never reasoned with my mind thinking, “I’m only 4 years old.  So it’s only right that I can’t reach the cookies.”  Instead, my spirit objected saying, “Why must I be limited to this mortal frame?  I am an eternal being!  I need cookies now!!!”

                The same thing happens at the other end of life.  When I talk to seniors, they speak of a similar injustice.  Their bodies ache.  They can’t run or even walk like they once did, but they don’t think old thoughts.   Being eternal, our Spirit remains constant, despite how young or old our bodies may be.   Being rooted in eternity himself, it is our spirit who cries out when we lose a loved one.

                My body is me.  My mind is me.  My Spirit is me.  And in spite of the fact that my spirit might be the most difficult to recognize, it is likely the me who has the most right to claim to be me.  Since we are three in one creatures, it shouldn’t be unreasonable to accept that God is three in one, particularly because we were in fact made to be like Them (us).