Working together is better than working alone—even with the mess!

By Dean Collins

There will always be a mess. But the results can be worth it. Here’s what I mean.

1 +1 = 2. Simple math. But two of anything creates more complexity, more housekeeping, more opinions, and when the two are on the same page, more productivity. Solomon wrote many proverbs to help us understand the complexities and the opportunities of life. But reading and quoting proverbs is a lot easier than living them.

The proverb and the problem

Proverbs 14:4 says this: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” The conclusion seems to be if you want a clean manger then don’t get an ox or any other animal. As soon as you add the animals they drool and snort and dribble food all over the barn floor. And that’s just the mess on the front end. When animals eat there will also be a mess on the other end!

One farmer with no ox has a different productivity than one farmer plus one ox. Productivity increases, but now the work on the farm has new challenges. And if you want to provide food for the whole community, you may need more than one ox and a growing crew of new workers. And this multiplies the challenges. The employees have families. They sometimes get sick. They don’t always get along with each other. And on and on.

And to make matters even harder, everyone who works for you is a sinner. They’re flawed at the core. And if that isn’t hard enough, next time you look in the mirror you will find a flawed person looking back at you. The simple math of 1 + 1 suddenly becomes anything but simple. The more people involved in your business or organization, the messier things become.

The wisdom and the rationale

The wise king offers a rationale in Ecclesiastes 4 that should encourage you to go ahead and hire or partner with others in the work God has given you. Here’s the king’s perspective; “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.”

If you get injured or have a bad day, a co-worker committed to the task will pick up the slack. Trying to do it by yourself may keep the office tidy but eventually becomes overwhelming, and almost always brings less creativity and productivity to your mission.

The new perspective

So what about the imperfections and flaws we all bring to work? We can learn a lot from the apostle Paul on this one. He launched a church in Corinth, and it took off on a growth path. But a growing church quickly turned into a messy manger and smelly barn. Sinners that they were, the church members brought some of their old patterns and habits with them.

Paul spent several chapters in his letters to the Corinthians correcting behavior and teaching practical ways to deal with each other. He also reminded them of the transformation that comes with faith in Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 Paul said this:

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Here’s the truth. If you try to run the business or the church by yourself, you still will have problems. All of us bring imperfections to the party. When we add others, things will get more complicated and there will be more difficulties to deal with. But a team can accomplish more than an individual. If we determine to look at each other from the view of Christ’s redeeming work on the cross, we have a whole new opportunity.

When we come to work as a new creation in Christ and treat others from this same perspective, we will see God transform our organization and multiply our effectiveness.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14:4; Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4:9-12; 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:16-17‬‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by FranHogan, via Wikimedia Commons

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