The Way Forward: Working Together

In the movie Rocky, boxer Rocky Balboa describes his relationship with his girlfriend Adrienne: ‘I’ve got gaps. She’s got gaps. But together we’ve got no gaps.’ It doesn’t matter how gifted you are – you’ve got gaps. What’s the best way to handle your weaknesses? By working with others who have strengths in those areas.

So why don’t we work together more? Because of the ‘Diotrephes spirit’: ‘But Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us … Not only does he refuse to welcome the travelling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church’ (3 John 1: 9-10).

What did Diotrephes want? Control! He wasn’t service-driven, he was ego-driven. He was afraid to have anyone challenge him.

The trouble is, people who are afraid to trust others end up not being trusted. There’s a level of success that they never get beyond, because they can’t work with anybody. And when they stumble, they have no one to help them up. They stay weak in certain areas; they can’t reach for the strength in others because they believe others ‘are only out for what they can get’. A school community is an ideal place for us to work together, for the benefit and strengthening of us all.

Reverend Peter Morphew
Chaplain