The Power of Each Part

If you have been watching the Olympics, you have been a part of one of the largest audiences ever watching the Olympics. NBC estimated that nearly 157 million people watched as least some part of the Olympics during the first four days. It has been spectacular to say the least.

There are many outstanding athletes competing in Beijing this summer whose names we recognize; Kobe Bryant, LeBron James for Basketball, Shawn Johnson for women’s gymnastics, and many others, but none more amazing than Michael Phelps. In Beijing Phelps has won 5 Gold medals, breaking 5 world records in the process. That accomplishment has also put him in a league of his own. He now has earned more Gold medals (11) than any other athlete in any event in Olympic history. He is on track to pass Mark Spitz record of 7 Gold medals in a single Olympic games (fyi – Spitz won 7 Gold medals at Munich in 1972 and did so by breaking 7 world records). Phelps is favored to win the three remaining races in which he is entered.

But as amazing as Michael Phelps is, he didn’t accomplish this on his own. While most of the races are individual efforts there are a couple of races that are relays. If you watched the 4X100 freestyle relay final on Monday night, you witnessed what is being called the greatest 4X100 freestyle relay of all time. The names, Garrett Weber-Gail, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak may not be as well known as Michael Phelps, but this was one race Michael couldn’t win on his own.

This was how the Associated Press summed up the issue, “Phelps' hopes of breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in a single Games appeared doomed when the French took over the lead at the 250 mark. They were 4.03 seconds under world-record pace at 350 meters before Lezak, the oldest American male swimmer at 32, rallied over the closing strokes with the fastest 100m split in history, 46.0 seconds.”

Without those three men, especially the greatest performance ever in that event by Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps wouldn’t have that Gold medal.

So what does this have to do with us as Christians? Well, while we each do have to have our own ‘personal relationship with Christ,’ we don’t run this race alone. We need each other. The strength of the church is in its connectedness. We are not only connected to God, but also to each other. The goal of the church is to “reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This is done when “whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Eph. 4:16). The work each of us does is not some isolated task disconnected from the body. If you watched the race, you also got to see Michael, Garrett, and Cullen cheer Jason Lezak on to the finish. The race was not just 4 individual efforts, but a total ‘fellowship’ in the work so that the whole became greater than the sum of the parts. How else can you explain beating the previous world record by 3.99 seconds where usually the margins of victory are in the 100^th of seconds?

As we strive to become Spiritual Champions, we must remember this is not simply an individual effort, we are a team, a body, The Body of Christ, where each member must do its part.