The Sum

I began a new series this week in youth group called “Greater than.” I will be exploring various spiritual concepts that are greater than we are used to, have experienced or even expected. This is the first.

Have you ever heard the saying, “The sum is greater than the individual parts”? I saw this concept clearly portrayed during the Olympics. We sent the best individual players to represent the US. This included with basketball. We sent the pros from the NBA. Most of these players average over 20 points a game and are recognized as the best players in the world. But we didn’t win the gold medal. Though our team was made up of the best individual players, our team was awful. They did not play well together. Instead, a team of less talented players who worked well together won. The point is simple: though individually a team should be better, if they don’t work together they will not succeed. The sum is greater than the individual parts.

The Bible contains the same sort of idea: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ…But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12, 24b-26)

We are called “The body of Christ.” In other words, we as individuals, when put together, make up a body that Christ uses. We only function correctly when we work together. We only live as the body of Christ when we see each other as having worth and importance. We don’t all bring the same thing to the body. But we all have something and are also called to actually bring that something. Then, we are called to respect one another for what we do bring.

If you miss connecting to the body of Christ, you miss Christ. There is no healthy relationship with Jesus without a relationship to the church. Church is not just coming, singing a few songs, hearing some guy talk, and then heading home. Church is about friends. It is about fellowship. It is about glorifying God together. And it is about giving of ourselves to the body. It is not necessarily about what we get out of it either. Now understand, if you decide that you want to skip church you will be okay. Notice, YOU will be okay. But you are forgetting that about what you bring to other people. When you commit to coming to the body, you are not just committing your time for a certain period, you are committing yourself to other people. You showing up clearly says that you care about the rest of the body.

Much can be done for God’s kingdom and for one another when we commit to each other and work together without concern for what is wrong with each other. You may not be beautiful by the world’s standards. You may not be smart. You may not be flashy. But you are important. And alone none of us is as effective or as good as we are together. The sum is greater than the individual parts.