"I" And "You" Equals "We"

What then is Apol′los? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apol′los watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9

I am a capable man. I am a talented man.

I like to think of myself as a man without any real limitations. Whatever skill I desire to have, whatever craft to which I wish to turn my head and my hands, I am absolutely convinced I can master. There is no learning which is beyond me, of this I have no doubt.

Whatever I need to get done, I like to think I can do myself. Whatever I need to get done I like to think I can do by myself, without the assistance of others.

Only, that’s not true.

There’s very little I do that does not involve at least one other person.

Even publishing this Substack and podcast involves services I do not run by myself—and could not run by myself even if I was of a mind to try. Other people keep these services running. Other people’s labors make this Substack and this podcast possible.

People keep the grocery stores running for when I go shopping—and if I choose to have my groceries delivered, there is the delivery driver as well. Without these people, I would have to work much harder at feeding myself.

When I am being honest with myself, I must acknowledge that very little that I do I can do without the involvement of others.

Even “working alone”, I am working with others.

I am a capable man. I am a talented man. I am a man who needs others.

To take on projects larger than my writing efforts, I absolutely need to engage others, and make good use of their time, talents, and skills. To accomplish anything of worth, I have to reach out to others, communicate with others, be present in the moment with others.

If I do not do these things, I will quickly alienate others, and I will not be able to accomplish what I have set out to do.

If I do not take the time to listen and hear what others are saying, I am not going to get the full benefit of all they have to offer. Whatever project on which I am working will suffer because I am depriving it and myself of the very best of my associates, colleagues, and coworkers.

I am a capable man. I am a talented man. I am a man whose talents are most fully realized by my interactions with others.

I am also a man who has skills to offer—and the desire to offer them.

In order to present my skills to others, I again need to engage with people. I need to talk not just to them but with them. I again need to listen and hear what others are saying. I need to communicate and be present in the moment with others.

If I ignore people, or if I am rude to people, or if I am condescending and disdainful towards people, I will not get the opportunity even to offer my skills and abilities. If I alienate people, I do not fulfill my desires of putting my skills and abilities to use.

I am a capable man. I am a talented man. I am a man like any other.

All that I must do, everyone has to do.

What I do to accomplish my goals is what others must do to accomplish theirs. The obligation I have to myself to engage with people that I might accomplish my goals is the obligation others have to themselves to engage with people that they might accomplish their goals.

What I do to make myself useful and valuable to others is what others must do to likewise be useful and valuable.

This is how we are. This is how we were created.

This is how we are meant to be.

We do those things which we are able to do, and others build on a foundation of what we have done. Likewise, we build on foundations of what others have done.

This is how we are. This is how we were created.

This is how we are meant to be.

We are called not merely to be God’s light to the world, but to share God’s light with the world. We are called to celebrate the efforts of others even as our own efforts are celebrated.

Above all, we are called to mindfulness that human society is fundamentally a “we”—a “we” built up of many instances of “I”, but still very much a “we”.

My prayer for us all is that we can be mindful of this, and that we can celebrate this, lifting each other up, building each other up.

In every circumstance, what I do coupled with what you do is what “we” do.

In every circumstance, “I” and “you” equals “we”.