Hold Hands and Stick Together!
We greatly admire the image of the ‘self-made’ person – the independent rancher characters of John Wayne; the lone, super-skilled soldier of Rambo rescuing the prisoners of war; the provoked solitary assassin of John Wick ridding the world of bad guys one by one. In each scenario, the individual is portrayed as someone who has sacrificed personal connection with others to serve the needs of a greater good. It sounds inviting to be able to ‘turn off’ your feelings and justify it with noble language. Sadly, for Rambo fans out there the most effective military forces in the world are TEAMS like Navy SEAL, Marine RECON and Army RANGER. “Teamwork makes the dream work” – John C. Maxwell. Every effective and successfully operating team in the world today has one commonality – the individuals are committed to achieving the goal for the entire collective. Each member knows his part and understands that where he is strong, he supports and where he is weak, he is supported. Most important, nobody gets left behind.
It takes legions to protect a nation – it takes communities to support justice – it takes the strong family to advocate for the members who weaken. God’s greatest commandments are to love Him and love each other (Matthew 22:35-40) and Jesus is telling us in plain language that we need each other (Matthew 18:19-20). And to say you love God but hate your brother makes you a liar (1 John 4:20) and diametrically opposed to God’s plan for your life.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” - African proverb. I like the word picture of a group carrying a log. Everyone supports its weight on level ground but as they travel across a break in the terrain, like a stream or a crevasse, the one who is in the act of stepping over the obstacle hangs on to the log and is carried by the others until the whole group has successfully navigated the obstacle. If necessary, the entire group can keep moving forward while members rest if they adopt subgroup shifts of rest and work. And if one member becomes incapacitated, they can be carried on top of the log. In this manner, we get the log to the destination, and we ALL get there together.
So here is the point: “For the body is not one member, but many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14. If you are strong, support the weak. If you are healthy, nurse the sick. If you are happy, comfort those who mourn. Even when those whom you are presently helping cannot return the effort, they have in the past, will in the future or just ‘pay it forward’ to the others. Sometimes just their prayerful company is all they can offer (Pastor John used to call this the ‘ministry of presence’) but that in itself is powerful provision for the whole. There truly is ‘strength in numbers.’ Remember that, when we were young, the older lead us by the hand. When we became old, the young took hold of ours. It is a universal truth that aburden shared lightens the load and a brother carried is never too heavy when Jesus walks beside us.
“And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together” - All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Robert Fulghum
Encourage someone today and be blessed.
<>< Cass
