It starts in two weeks.

I’m so excited to begin my Masters program at the St. Marys Divinity College at the University of St. Andrews. This distance learning program fits well into my work and family flow, but gives me the structure to dive into further studies on unity, theology, Bible, church, ministry and leadership.

I’ll write blog posts to share with you new insights as I learn along the way. Here are some thoughts from the current book I’m reading on bioethics by Gilbert Meilaender.

Our background beliefs are commonly held at a kind of prearticulate level. We take them in with the air we breathe, drink them in from the surrounding culture.” 

Ok, the main reason this quote grabbed me is because Meilaender used the word “prearticulate” – that is just boss, poetic and demands a slow clap.

No word processing program I used recognized that word, so that means he had to write it, and then confidently ignore the red squiggly lines that scream “you suck at spelling.” 

The point is that we all have “background beliefs,” that work powerfully behind the scenes and impact our thought and action. In our hurried world, we rarely take the time to evaluate and hold captive these background beliefs. Instead, we pull through the cultural drive-thru and adopt what is being served. 

In a recent RZIM podcast, Ravi Zacharias laid out three levels to truth: Level 1 is where truth resides, namely the word of God. Level 2 is drama, media and the stories told to us by movies and music. Then there is Level 3; the kitchen table. This is truth passed on in relationships and real life. 

Most of us make the mistake of defining our guiding background beliefs from Level 2 or Level 3 thinking. This opens us up to emotional and circumstantial reasoning or buying a cultural lie as truth. The key is to identify our ‘background beliefs’ as Meilaender calls them and discern which level we derived the ideas from.

What makes us true individuals therefore is that God calls us by name.”

We talk a lot about personal freedom and individuality in the West. Right or wrong, we tend to prioritize individuality over community (the opposite is typically true in Eastern cultures). This give us the false idea that individuality can somehow be achieved like the golden prize at the end of a maze riddled with traps. Or perhaps instead, we think individuality is something that our government can grant us through policy or law, giving us the rights we deserve. 

In this simple phrase, Meilaender reminds us of a profound truth: we are individuals because God calls us by name. Simply amazing! God could have ordered creation in so many ways, but he gives us individuality and freedom within the limits of His structure. 

Individuality or Individualism?

There is a big difference between individuality and individualism. The former speaks to healthy personhood and the latter speaks to an exaggerated sense of self-importance and infantile egocentrism. Our individuality also comes with the simultaneous gift of community. Community with the divine family of the Trinity, community with our earthly family and community with our Church family. 

I believe we must fight against the internal tidal wave for independence and individualism. Instead our goal should be what I call “Dependent Individuality.” Meaning, we are dependent on God and our community. Although we may not like to admit it, nobody is totally independent. Therefore our individuality can only be truly defined in the context of the community that helps meet our needs. Our community is a critical ingredient to the whole that is me. We must resist the temptation to compare ourselves to others in our community and go beyond the superficial layer that comes from begin only social. True community requires the vulnerability to be known and the humility to receive the help that it offers.

So, God has given us both corporate and personal means of grace to draw us closer to him and find our purpose. In the individual quiet moments of prayer and devotion and in the corporate celebrations and worship. We are individuals inseparable from a community on mission. It is the crossroads of dependent individuality where we know and apply the prearticulate truth to make us people who build His Kingdom.