When the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, there is truly something remarkable at play. A team of two horses far out pull twice the load one horse can handle. The cookie is far better than sugar, salt, and butter by themselves. What good would a heart be without the countless other organs and tissue that make up the entire body? Consider the molecule H2O. Two hydrogen atoms bond with one oxygen atom to get something altogether different than their individual parts. Their bonding produces a molecule of water.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts points to a thing at play beyond just coordination and cooperation. Yes, the horses need to cooperate, but that is not where the marvel lies. It lies somewhere deeper. It lies in the borrowing and sharing between the horses. A bond deeper than the yoke they share. A bond, one supposes, must come from a shared hope, purpose, grit, desire, and courage.
This same marvel is seen in human relationships also. Consider the friendship, fellowship and brotherhood of David and Jonathon, Paul and Barnabus, or Christ’s disciples. There is a bond that makes the group a new living organism beyond the individual. Talk to our brothers who found themselves in military service and you will detect an unseen bond but very real. The yearly army reunions give testimony to this.
Bonds are fascinating and give us important insights. If you want to understand the nature of brotherhood, study the bond between the men. If you want to understand the nature of the water molecule, study the chemical bond between its elements. What we find is the bond has much to do with what is borrowed and shared. This is clearly illustrated in the water molecule. The oxygen atom shares an electron with each hydrogen atom. The borrowing and sharing of electrons lie at the heart of the molecular bond. Without that shared electron, both oxygen and hydrogen would lose their individual identities. They would cease to exist. In a sense, their identities are joined and thus bonded.
Male bonding works the same way. A friendship is forged by shared history. A band of soldiers are bonded by shared danger. A team is forged by a shared goal. A professional fraternity is bonded by shared professional responsibilities. Who each is individually is shaped by the others. In a sense, they have a stake in the life of the others.
Not all human bonds are equal. Some can come and go such as fraternities dissolving or friendships waning or teams moving on. Other bonds are weak. To understand the strength of bonds, take a lesson from H2O. The secret behind the strength of the water molecule bond lies in the attraction between the shared electron and the nucleus of each shared atom. The negatively charged electron is attracted to the positively charged oxygen nucleus and positively charged hydrogen nucleus. This electromagnetic attraction is very powerful. Similarly, the strength of the human bond doesn’t necessarily lie in the strength of our attraction to each other, but rather in the attachment of what we share. How significant is the history I share with my friend? How significant was the danger I shared with my comrades? How significant was the goal shared by the team or the responsibilities by the professional fraternity?
This gives us the terms and criterion to understand Christian fellowship. Like horses, cookies, bodies and molecules, we are a new creation together. That is, we form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Furthermore, the nature of our brotherhood is understood by the bond between us. This bond is forged in sharing Christ. In this way, our individual identities in Christ are knit together. In addition, the power of the bond lies in the profound attachment we have with Christ. This attachment wonderfully is settled in his love for us. Thus, Christian brotherhood is possible because of the bond we have with one another in Christ’s love. A bond that is far more significant and powerful than any the world has ever seen.
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. ~ 1 John 4 KJV
