We All Have an Important Part to Play

Do you know the sign of healthy joints? It’s when you don’t notice they’re there. Throughout my life I’d never paid much attention to my knees – until 12 years ago when my left knee started feeling like a needle was sticking into it. Suddenly, whenever I walked anywhere, I was painfully aware of my left knee. I needed arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus. (I told my surgeon if I’d known I had a meniscus, I would’ve tried not to tear it!)

A similar thing happened years earlier when I sprained my right thumb. Have you ever tried doing simple things, like turning doorknobs or picking up books, when your thumb isn’t working right? Over time it healed, but I realized how easy it is to take sound, healthy joints for granted. If you notice they’re there, something’s wrong.

It’s the same in other areas of life. Take music, for example. In an orchestra, if you keep hearing one instrument more loudly than the rest – unless the conductor has assigned a solo – the musician is overplaying or playing incorrectly. The assembled instruments should blend to make cohesive, harmonious, ear-pleasing sounds.

This might seem a bit sexist, but I’ve always thought something similar about makeup on women: If you notice it, there’s too much of it. It should enhance, not call attention to itself. (Having a wife and three grown daughters, I think I have license to say this.)

The reason for these observations is because so many of us feel unimportant, convinced we’re not adding value to the world around us. We’re not doing anything to call attention to ourselves, so we must not have much to contribute, right?

We see this a lot in sports. The quarterback gets the headlines, but no one notices the center that snaps him the ball – unless the ball is mishandled. We celebrate the homerun hitter and the pitcher that throws a no-hitter, but pretty much ignore the catcher calling the pitches.

But the fact is, we’re all important. Even if we don’t get our names on the marquee, or have our names called out at awards ceremonies, that doesn’t mean what we’re giving to the cause doesn’t have value.

Consider a blockbuster motion picture. We talk about the starring actors, maybe the director. But hundreds of other people are involved in making the film possible, ranging from costume designers and equipment handlers to actors in small roles and assistant producers.

Years ago I was a magazine editor and did much of the writing and editing for our small publication. But we also had an assistant editor, graphic designer, illustrator, administrative assistant and others involved in the total process. Each time a new edition came out, I was reminded: “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

That’s why the Bible affirms the value of each member of the body of Christ. “The body is a unit.... If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.... As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Corinthians 12:12-20).

So take heart. If you’re doing what you feel youre called to do, and doing the best you can, it’s important – even when nobody notices. There's no shame in being an unsung hero.

Trying to Do It Alone

We learn at an early age the value of teamwork and being with others.

There is something about the American mystique, the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality, that’s stuck with us. Pilgrims setting off for a strange, unseen land, uncertain what they would encounter. Pioneers heading westward to explore uncharted territory. Visionary inventors toiling in solitude, pursuing innovative ideas. We take pride in our independent spirit.

But the reality is, to succeed in life we really can’t do it alone. Just as a healthy body is made up of organs working in concert with each other, a successful life is the byproduct of the skills, talents and contributions of many people.

During the years I served as a magazine editor, when each new issue came out I marveled. “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” was never truer than when examining each freshly printed edition. It had been the result of writers, editors, graphic designers, editorial assistants and the team that brainstormed titles and artwork for each article. As a friend of mine often said, “Not one of us is as smart as all of us combined.”

During the election, President Obama rankled many small business owners when he made the ill-advised comment, “You didn’t build this.” In one respect he was right – without government services and resources, businesses couldn’t function properly. But the people that owned the businesses were the ones that lay awake at night agonizing over issues such as meeting payroll, deciding what risks to take, wondering how to attract more customers, etc.

Yet, even with such entrepreneurial zeal, any successful business has been built upon the shoulders of many gifted, hard-working individuals – employees as well as employers.

Currently I’m helping an individual write an account of rising from the wreckage of a troubled childhood. Through determination and hard work, he’s built a successful career. But he didn’t get there alone. Many people entered his life at different times, making helpful gestures or providing timely opportunities. He was wise enough to take advantage of each, and he’s hoping his life story will encourage others in rising above their adverse circumstances.

Even in the spiritual realm the “I can do it all by myself” mindset seems to have prevailed. When the motion picture, “God Is My Co-Pilot,” came out in 1945, it became a motto for decades to follow, even on bumper stickers. In other words, “God, I’ve got this – but stay close in case I need you, OK?”

The so-called “Christian life” is often perceived as a singular pursuit, trying to be good and doing good things for God. Experience has taught me, however, there is nothing we can do for God. Rather, He desires to do things through us. That’s why Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and the apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Nowhere in the Scriptures does it endorse a “lone ranger” approach to spirituality. Instead, they teach us to recognize our insufficiency apart from the transforming power of Christ and support from other believers.

This reliance on Christ is clearly expressed in Ephesians 2:8-10, which states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We can’t do it alone – but with Christ, the sky’s the limit.