ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV)

Nearly 40 years ago, the band “Three Dog Night” made that very claim in one of their very first songs. One is the loneliest number. They were talking about a relationship where the girl went away and now just being one is so lonely. That song is still known and that way of thinking is still popular today. And on certain levels, it is true.

The apostle Paul, however, about 2000 years ago made a very different claim. His thinking went something like this (and I paraphrase)… one is the only number. Now I may be taking some liberties in my interpretation, but I think that’s exactly what he was saying as he wrote those words (above) to the church in Ephesus. There is ONE Lord. There is ONE faith. There is ONE baptism. There is ONE body. There is ONE Spirit. We were called to ONE hope. There is ONE God and Father of ALL. One is the only way. Paul doesn’t see “one” as the lonely way, but he puts it forth as the only way.

The trouble is we have grown up in the great American way of independence. We can do it ourselves. You can be anything you want to be. And while some of that is true and has helped to make us a great country, that thinking to the extreme falls very short of what God intended and what Paul taught.

One Family built by Many People
I think that God had clear plans of us learning to be in community when he created the family unit. Each of us grew up in some kind of a family, where we looked to others as a unit. It might have been Mom, Dad, and children. Or maybe it was a single parent or a single child. Maybe it was in an orphanage. But in all cases, there were others that we looked to for support. It’s where we first start to learn the concept of teamwork. We often refer to our household as “Team Malinich.”

You see, in the team setting, there are many individuals and they each play different roles. But “one” is the only number that matters (or at least matters most) – the “one” team. When Daniel was born into our family, we kept reminding each other that now we are five. How many? Five. The emphasis in that question wasn’t on the “five” as much as it was the “we.” We did that to keep our unit focused on the fact that there are needs of five individuals that must now be met, but in the context of the team (the family). We also did it because for the last 6 years, our routines had developed around the four of us, but now someone else was part of the “one” (and in those early years, especially demanding of time and energy).

One Church Following after Jesus
So God placed each of us in a family. Sometimes we learned what worked and sometimes what didn’t work, but in the end, God will use it all for our development and His glory. We can learn in a family to be dead to ourselves. We can learn to serve others. We can learn how the each person does his or her part for the success of the whole. Those are just some of the great lessons we can learn by being in a family.

In theory we can then turn around and apply those lessons to our role in His Body, the Church. We are ONE. But unfortunately, for too long and in too many churches, we’ve talked about being the Body, but often we’ve only seen our own little church as the body. Or we’ve seen ourselves as separate from the rest because our worship or our teaching or our fellowship or something else is “better” than others. We’ve let that independent American spirit creep the way we view church.

Don’t get me wrong, local church fellowships are one of the most effective ways of connecting with people. It’s just that we need to see ourselves as ONE team – not as competing teams. I’ll admit it’s challenging to me. But that’s God’s heart for His Church. He wants us to be ONE under His leadership following after King Jesus. And when that happens, we won’t have to worry about ourselves.

Are we there? No, not even close. Are we headed in the right direction? I think so. We’re taking back ground that the enemy has so subtly had us surrender over the years. But when we put Jesus in His place and we take our place (under His leadership), good things are going to happen. We’re praying for a transformed New Orleans as a result. What needs to happen in your town?

Paul Malinich 

Greater New Orleans Pastors' Coalition
setfreemail@yahoo.com

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