John Lewis: We All Need Each Other

As part of our team’s June preparation for Meru, we did a fun group exercise. An obstacle course was laid out at the Bosh’s house: from the upstairs family room, down the stairs and out the back door, under the picnic table, across the lawn, up the steps and touch the basketball hoop. Everyone had to complete it. Each person however was given some form of limitation: not being able to walk, only able to walk on one foot, not able to speak, not able to use your arms. Each limitation was known only to the affected person until the exercise started.

When I said “go,” some of those who were able and focused on the end goal quickly bounded down the stairs, out of sight from those unable to move well or at all. The minutes that followed unfolded the drama of how each person finally did get to the finish line. Gideon Bosh, unable to walk, was last to get there; it took 3 others with limitations of their own, to get him down the stairs, under the table and up the final steps (see photo).

When we debriefed together in the family room, it became apparent that this had not been a traditional race where the gun went off and we all got to the finish line by ourselves. We needed each other. God did not intend us to have all the gifts needed to operate independently. In real life, as in the body of Christ, our limits come from our identity and the specific roles we play. And we have more fun as a result, more memories, more trust and appreciation of each other.

And so as we go to Kenya, we first of all go as a UPPC team. The functions of treasurer, devotions, prayer, bug spray point person and others have all been distributed based on people’s interests and gifts. We will need each other as we are stretched in this coming experience. Christ will work through us and come to us through the bodies of our teammates.

And I believe it will become clearer and clearer, each day of the trip, how in a larger sense, each country and culture has its own special place, its own limits. We have already tasted how much Peter and Josephine bring so much knowledge, history and wisdom of Kenya culture. Being immersed with their friends and other new relationships, seeing their faith and courage in a life of hardship, will open our eyes to our own limits and help us appreciate the treasured gift of their culture. Americans and Kenyans, Germans and Koreans, we all need each other to be a church “team” that reaches all the world’s people well.

And so our team will go soon. Together we are a reflection of Christ’s body. As the trip progresses, I look forward to using God’s gifts in me and seeing God’s gifts in others. We are now better prepared to not be surprised that we need each other and Christ himself, who is the head of our team, the head of His body, the church, local and worldwide.