Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

I Cor. 12:27, NIV (1978)

We need each other. In the Word of God, this is made especially clear, as it is emphasized that the church is made up of each individual member and that all are needed. In Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, he stresses that every Christian has a role in the church just as every part of the physical body has a role. As important as the hand is, it would not be as effective if the body did not have a foot to carry that hand around to the places it needed to be. Even the parts that seem less important are vital, even if they are not as prominent as others. It is true that we all need a voice to communicate, but without those vital, unseen organs such as the lungs and kidneys, we would cease to exist. And if we ceased to exist, even the voice of an angel could do no good.

This is the truth that Stephen Covey noticed when he was trying to find those vital habits that all highly effective people seem to have in common. In fact, his sixth habit stresses just that: We need each other! He put it this way: We need to synergize, for the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. If that seems confusing, then think of it this way: two people working together can usually get more done than the same two people working alone.

Still seem confusing? Maybe an example that I heard from a wise old cowboy would help. This cowboy is an expert horseman, though I doubt he would make that claim for himself. He said that he likes to watch "horse pulls". If you have a horse that can pull a 3,000-pound sled, and you match him with a comparable horse that can also pull 3,000 pounds, how much could they pull if they were harnessed and pulling together? The mathematician in me immediately determined that it would be 6,000 pounds, but that answer was wrong. How could this be since the sum of 3,000 and 3,000 is 6,000? 

The reason for the answer lies in the fact that horses are a lot like people. When by themselves, they can only do so much. But, when working together in the same harness, they can accomplish more - sometimes significantly more. Because of this, it would not be unusual for two horses that could pull no more than 3,000 pounds each when pulling on their own, to pull 8,000 pounds when harnessed together and working towards pulling the same load.

This is synergy!

Synergizing in business means that we can put together a team of individuals to work far more effectively than they could ever work alone. Henry Ford's assembly line is one of the greatest examples of this method that has ever been discovered. While it is true that he was not the first to come up with this technique, he was definitely the first to use it in the automotive industry and he was the one who came up with innovation after innovation to make the process even more effective.

Now, before we go too far, it should be pointed out that they are some things that are better accomplished alone, such as tying one's own shoes and eating one's own meal. Still, you have to admit that it probably took a fairly large assembly of individuals to make those shoes and shoelaces, and it took an awful lot of people to bring the end product of your meal to the dinner table. Synergy, we discover, is a very important principle indeed when it comes to being effective in just about every aspect of our lives.

God recognized this long before men came along and gave the process a fancy name. In the garden, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone. King Solomon said that two are better than one. Paul said that there are no unnecessary parts in the body. Since the body of Christ is the church, God wants us to know the importance of working together if we are to ever be as effective as we can be for Him. And being effective for God is vital if we are to ever be able to actually help others to the best of our ability. It is true that there are some things that are better done on our own, but we still need to recognize the role of Christ and the members of the church in allowing us to get to the point that we can actually do our individual part.

The sixth habit of highly effective people is to synergize, for the whole is indeed greater than the sum of the individual parts. This is true in marriage, it is true on sports teams and businesses, and it is especially true in the church. So, if we ever want to be as highly effective as we can be for God as a church, we are going to have to work together. The reason is the same that God stated in the beginning in that ancient garden when He pronounced that great truth, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." The fact is that we still need one another if we are ever to accomplish all of the things that God wants us to. And there is a "bonus" to this principle as well: It is a lot more fun to go through life with others than it is alone. We really do need each other!