The Boys in the Boat – Unity in Christ

“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

1 Corinthians 12:12

Dear Family & Friends,

Last week Dad, Abigail, and I went to the Greene where we enjoyed lunch and the movie The Boys in the Boat. The day was so fun and the movie was fantastic! Who doesn’t love a story where the underdog works hard and triumphs? The next morning as I read my Bible and mulled around various thoughts, it came to me that the crew team of the film mirrored some spiritual truths. While God’s children are all individuals, our shared goal in life and ministry should be unity in Christ.

Desiring Certain Spiritual Gifts

I don’t know about you, but  I sometimes get frustrated with things I’m called to do.  I don’t see any tangible results from my labors. It often seems like I’m stuck behind a glass window where I just can’t push through to the outcomes I want. I start looking at the success of others and wishing I could be them or have their gifts.

I imagine what it would be like to sing with the voice of an angel, to be able to vocalize encouraging words that just brings people to tears. They would listen over and over to my songs while weeping on their knees and raising hands in worship of our great God.

Pulling Together For Success

But with the movie’s storyline, a flash of lightning illuminated the error of my thoughts. Each young man on the rowing team had a specific job to do. When the group was first formed the coaches labored over who would sit in each seat of the boat. Throughout the early process of team building the team members were rotated in and out of position as the coaches tried to find the perfect combination for the win. Each spot had a specific job to do, but no rower could fulfill the other person’s job. Each participant had to focus on his purpose – they were not a boat of eight, but a boat of one pulling together to reach the finish line.

Even the coxswain had a crucial purpose. He did not expend any effort in pulling the oars himself, but he had to be the perfect person to push, encourage, and set the pace to keep the rowers working together.  When the boat sailed past the other contestants and glided across the finish line, he was just as much a part of their success as each of the other rowers and had every reason to rejoice as part of the team.

A Bible Example of Unity in Christ

The Bible gives different examples of this same principle. Paul calls all believers the body of Christ. Each person has a specific calling and job to do and we would be well-served to pull hard in our position. When we long for another person’s spot or try to maneuver the boat all alone by jumping into every seat we are doomed for failure. It’s not the way it works. Each person doing his part, fulfilling his calling the way God has assigned, empowered by the same Spirit, is what brings the oars into synchronization and moves the whole vessel forward in perfect unity and precision.

If only we could all realize this truth we would stop trying to be someone else or do what someone else does. Instead we would focus on our own God-given strengths and use them with all our might.

Victory Guaranteed

How I wish we would all understand that every child of God is an important part of the crew, not because of our own merit, but because God chose us and appointed us. When we realize this, then, and only then, can we contribute to the race and revel in the victory we are all guaranteed by God’s design.

This is success! This is how all underdogs, all the boys in the boat, make it over the finish line – by getting our eyes off of ourselves and working together in the perfect power and unity in Christ.

Love,

Mama

workers together – unity in Christ