I wonder sometimes if that was necessary. Oh, not really. I know God did what was best. But I've been around enough and seen enough of normal human patterns to find that teamwork and human ambition don't normally seem to work well together. How many of Man's best laid plans have come to naught because of humans? How many great ideas have failed because we just don't play well together?
I've been in some pretty interesting positions in my life. I've worked on some pretty interesting projects with teams that could produce some pretty interesting results. Despite some successes, it seems that, in the end, it always collapsed. Management wanted bigger profit. Someone on the team wanted more credit. Some of the teams have fallen apart because one person decided they wouldn't let go of the reins and micromanaged the thing to death. Once I saw an entire project fail because one person -- a single person -- decided he would take credit for everything. Since no one else was going to get anything out of it, they all quit trying and no one got anything out of it.
It's not just my experience. Take, for instance, the idea of a community that shares everything it has with each other so that no one is wanting. The Christian community of Acts 4 was just like that. "And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them" (Acts 4:32). What an excellent arrangement! Of course, it only took one chapter for the problems to begin to surface. In Acts 5 we meet Ananias and Sapphira, a couple in the community who sought to use the system for their advantage. It cost them their lives. But it illustrates my point. The theory of communism is a lovely idea, but the practice of communism is always a miserable failure ... because humans are involved who want what they can get out of it.
The concept is what is called "hive mind". Instead of thinking of self, a group of people would have to think of others. It is a repeating theme in science fiction, but generally doesn't work too well with real people. In America, where individualism is king, it is almost entirely non-existent. The University of Chicago did a study comparing the Chinese interaction with the American interaction. (If I knew where I read this, I'd cite it.) They constructed a test where one person directed another person's actions, where the director told the worker to move objects on a grid. In 60% of the cases, the American teams failed because the worker didn't take into account the director's viewpoint. The Chinese teams succeeded in all but one occurrence. The study attributes this to the fact that the Chinese mindset is much more community-oriented and much less self-centered. Whether the conclusions of that particular test are accurate or not, the conclusions are true. Humans in general and Americans in particular are just not likely to work as a "hive mind", sacrificing self for the sake of the greater good. Those who do are noteworthy because they stand out.
The Church is no exception. It should be, but it's not. There is just as much splintering and self in the Church, it seems, as in the world. These things ought not be. Paul wrote:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:3-8).We are Christians -- followers of Christ. We are to put on Christ. We are to be conformed to His character. And what is the single most universally recognized aspect of His character? His humility. Humility isn't weakness; it is strength controlled. It doesn't diminish the humble; it elevates the rest. And it ought to be a standard mark of every believer. Christians ought to be known as those who "regard one another as more important than himself". It takes an individual who is secure in the hands of the Father to do it, an individual who has more strength than the standard human being. But it is the only way that the "team" that Christianity is supposed to be will ever come off any better than the Tower of Babel did. The truth is the Church becomes strongest when the individuals in it conform to the image of Christ, surrendering self, and work as a team. Wouldn't you love to see that?
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