Synergy

In my men's group, we all recently took a survey called Your Unique Design which provides us a snapshot of how we were made. I have done these types of thing before, and though this provided me with similar results, it was done so in a different way which was helpful to me.

The big thing for me though, was how different the results were for everyone in our group. I was reminded as others in my group were sharing, that not one of the guys was made wrong. They were not a mistake and God knew what He was doing.

The thought also occurred to me that if everyone was the same, it would be a very boring world. Besides, life would be much more difficult.

Yes, people who are different than us might frustrate us or annoy us. They might even make us angry because they do things so differently. However, when others are different, that means that they have strengths that we don't have. This can be very helpful if we work together as God designed.

The definition of "synergy" is: the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. I believe that is what God had in mind when He created each of us. This wouldn't be possible if we were all made the same.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

Romans 12:4-6a

The Body of Christ

Check out this amazing short video:

If any one of those parachutists was not doing their job, the entire stunt would not have worked. What a great reminder that we all have a role to play in the body of Christ!

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

We Are The Body

Yesterday I returned from Indianapolis where I spent Monday and Tuesday in meetings. I was invited to participate in a Commission On Leadership Development for The Free Methodist Church.

When one of our bishops contacted me to ask me to join this group I have to admit, I was very leery. You see, I am not much of a denominational type of guy. This is probably because I don't know enough about particular denominations. However, I have seen different denominations bicker over the littlest things and that irritates me. I think that hurts the Christian faith in many ways.

So, when I agreed to be a part of this group it was with great trepidation. Then on Sunday (Father's Day), as I was leaving my family on a beautiful day to make the four hour trek south, I was really second-guessing my decision.

However, on Monday morning, I was sitting at a table with the three bishops of the church and 5 other very bright and talented people. I was feeling like I would not be able to contribute much as everyone else seemed much more qualified than I. It was a neat group of people that I felt very blessed to be a part of.

I was pleasantly surprised at the overall tone of the conversations. They were primarily focused on how we can help the Church (not just the Free Methodist Church) which was very cool.

We had some tremendous discussions about leadership and how to develop leaders in the pastorate and in our congregations. Some great progress was made and over the next several years some tremendous things can come from this. I am very excited about the possibilities.

As I was driving home yesterday I was thinking about this group of people. We were an extremely diverse group. Not only did we live in different areas of the country, we all had different passions, interests, ideas and talents. Of the six lay people we had a Grandma who takes care of a couple of her grand kids and volunteers at her church and a college president and many walks of life in between. One of the guys is a specialist in data collection (surveys) and analysis which will come in very handy. Each has different gifts and abilities which will help us. God sure knows how to put a team together!

It occured to me that this is a microcosm of what the Apostle Paul talked about when he referred to us as the Body of Christ (Romans 12:4-8). We each have a part to play.