ARE YOU A USEFUL ENGINE?

Does your family have a funny saying or inside joke that others might not understand? Most families have funny things they say or actions they do that are not something others would “get”. A family might adopt a sort of inside joke based on a specific event they experienced together, or will use a unique word or phrase that just became a part of the family lexicon. One of ours was the phrase “useful engine”.

This came from a book (and later a children’s show), Thomas the Tank Engine. The central character, Thomas, is a cheeky blue tank engine with the number 1 painted on his side. The narrative follows his adventures and mishaps as he works on the North Western Railway under the management of Sir Topham Hatt. Thomas constantly strives to be a “really useful engine,” often taking on tasks beyond his small size, which leads to trouble but ultimately teaches lessons about friendship, teamwork, and responsibility. Thomas was a favorite character in our house for a season, and we ended up adopting “useful engine” as one of those family phrases that might cause people outside of our family to raise an eyebrow or think we were odd (not remembering that they too are bound to say silly things in their own families that we wouldn’t understand).

Thomas wanted to be useful. Don’t we all want that? Very young children want to be useful by helping their parents do easy chores. And that is where the phrase was most often applied in our home. But it’s not only children who want to be useful. Often women will want to be of use in the kitchen when at another’s home for dinner. Men might want to be useful to a friend by helping with a home repair project. Most of us want to be useful by contributing to society in a meaningful way. Whether it’s volunteering for an organization, helping out at a church event, or being involved in the civic life of our city or town, we as humans feel we have value when we are being useful to others in our family or community.

The Lord God created us to be useful and do good deeds. This purpose is built into our personhood:

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” (BSB) The Good News Translation says, “God has made us what we are…”

In addition to doing general good deeds, the Bible tells us we have each been given something specific to do in order to be useful to the body of Christ:

1 Peter 4:10 says, “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” (CSB)

Romans 12:4-5a explains that part of our usefulness comes from the fact that we are not all gifted in the same ways, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body.”

This is great news! The inner drive to be useful is not only God-given, hard wired into our personhood, but it serves an important function in the Church. It’s there for a reason! So how do we make sure we’re useful to God?

The Scriptures are clear that in order to be useful to God our hearts need to be right.

1. Our usefulness should be done for the Lord, not for the praise of others.                 Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men” (HCSB)
2. We should be ready to be useful to the Lord.

     Titus 3:1 reminds us, “...to be ready to do what is good.”
3.  We make ourselves ready by cleansing ourselves from what is dishonorable.
     2 Timothy 2:21 says, “So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel        for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
4.   We remain useful by maintaining our flavor.
      Matthew 5:13 explains, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how         can it be made salty again? It is no longer good (useful) for anything, except to be                   thrown out and trampled underfoot."  
      The Amplified Bible likens losing our salty flavor to losing our very purpose!
5.   We must remember that we are the light of the world.
       Matthew 5:15 further discusses usefulness in terms of being a lamp in a house.  A                lamp isn’t very useful if it’s hidden or concealed. Are we hiding the light of our faith?              In order to be useful to the Lord we need to be shining for the world to see!

As each of us strives to be “a really useful engine”, I pray we remember that we were created to do good works, and that we use the gifts we’ve been given to serve others uniquely in the body of Christ.