Recently, I read an interesting analogy of God being a landlord and his tenets. It parallels the notice of the Lord and Steward. While reading about the concept of landlord and tenant, I had an exciting revelation come to mind. As a real estate investor, I own a two-family home with two tenets. What was interesting in this narrative was the type of building, a house, that God owned. Instead of concrete and lumber, it was flesh. This analogy of God, the owner, and us, the stewards of the body, was fascinating. Since I own a property and my tenets occupy it. The idea captured my attention, and I meditated on the concept. The Holy Spirit was busy at work, drawing deeper into this analogy. The deeper I went into the meditation, the more I realized that the author of the analogy missed the best part.

Since I only enter their apartments when I call, the first two set up an appointment to visit. Since the agreement is that they are in possession of the apartment’s use for a fee. In ten years, neither one of my tenets has ever invited me to dinner or a party. However, when something breaks, I quickly get a call; this is true with the majority of people, Christians included. Suddenly, when something breaks or isn’t working, not enough of this or that the phone call to God is now ringing off the hook. I often imagine what it must be like to have 8 billion calls coming in at one time. Please permit me to enter a little humor here. God must have an operator to direct your call to the proper department: this example came to me from the Holy Spirit. He has a sense of humor. No wonder why Catholics pray to Saints and Angels. They have the extension to the correct department; with all the calls to God and Jesus, it’s no wonder some dial directly to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. When you think of a Kingdom, the King does not perform the mundane chores for the Kingdom. Someone has to filter the calls. The Holy Spirit has to dispatch the calls, and some go on hold. There is a reason why God doesn’t seem to answer right away. 

Back to the Landlord: It makes a person think God is saying, “You never invited me to dinner or a party, but now you want something.” “What you did not do for the least of my brothers you did not do to me.” (Matthew 25:45 NIV) 

Let us take a closer look at the landlord’s responsibility. The one thing left out in this landlord analogy is that, in many cases, the landlord often pays for some of the utilities; for example, I pay the water bill. The tenets would not live there without running water. The same is true about our bodies; without the breath of life, our bodies are lifeless. So God is investing in you whether you believe in God or not. Similar to my tenets, they both get the same treatment.

Another example that is lifted out is not all properties are the same. Some are small shacks, while others are massive mansions requiring different amounts of energy to keep them warm or cold. The same builders have built many homes and things like the Trump Towers. They each have a different use with different tenants. These different tenants also have larger spaces that they rent, more to pay, and more excellent abilities to host the landlord in their homes. Someone living in a shack may only be able to offer you a beer while the one living in the mansion fine Champaign; of course, the landlord can also bring the tenet a gift like in the case of In the case of Jesus, Peter and Paul’s shadow landing on a faithful person causing a healing or touching the garment is the result of the degree of the Holy Spirit’s presence in them. Not everyone is a Paul or a Peter; indeed, there is only one Jesus.

You see, I own the property, but I don’t use it. So, something different is taking place here. We arrive at the critical element missing in the Landlord and tenant analogy. Where did Peter and Paul receive the power to heal? They weren’t Jesus, the second part of the Holy Trinity. The speaker seems to have us humans in control of our bodies or the Holy Spirit, God, in control of our bodies. When my tenants control the flat and if the flat is empty, I do. However, something different must occur to be similar to Peter and Paul.

The Spirit that dwells in me seems to disagree with those extremes; yes, God can use me to do His will even when I disobey Him, but is that the relationship God desires?  The more I thought about the tenant landlord relationship, it isn’t one or the other that occupies the house, meaning our body, but God is seeking a roommate. Scripture references Israel as a Wife to God and the Church as a Bribe to Jesus. A husband and a wife share the same home; they are roommates and partners; scripture tells us they become one. God wants to be roommates. He already occupies our bodies with the breath of life but wants a more active team role. God wants us to be One. Jesus said, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21 NLT)  With the Holy Spirit, we can be that Oneness, a team effort that works together. God seeks an intimate relationship. I want to be our roommate, living in us in harmony