Two Are Better Than One, part 1

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

As “the Preacher” continues through his list of vanities, he seems to make a few positive observations along the way. Here he explains that two people working and living together are better than one. There appear to be four reasons given for this. First, “they have a good reward for their toil” (v. 9). Two people working together produce more than one. This seems obvious by simple addition. But I think more is in view here. Two people working together will produce more than the same two people working individually. Couples, packs, teams, and communities have a dynamic that is encouraging and motivating.

One reason they produce more is also the next and separate reason two are better than one: “If they fall, one will lift up his fellow.” Two people working together are better than one because they help one another in weakness and failure. People who work together can complement and fill each other out. Sometimes our individual weaknesses and failure become our destruction. But not if someone is there to help us. It’s like a safety net.

This idea is also tied into the work. Its not just the fallen person who would suffer, but the work. In the context of the mission of making disciples, this is a critical aspect to Christian community. It is not an individual task; we are to work together to accomplish it. And so we are called to exhort, correct, restore, forgive, strengthen, encourage, love, pray for, and bear one another up.

There is one other important dynamic to such teamwork: willingness to be helped. “Well, of course, why would anyone not want help?” PRIDE! We don’t even want to admit we have fallen and need help. Independence and self-sufficiency is the virtue of our culture that makes us weak.

Cyber-”Fellowship”?

“Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.”
Proverbs 27:10b

Communicating long distance is ever becoming easier: long distance calls, online chatting, cell phones, video calls, e-mail, long distance travel, blogging, Facebook, internet communities, etc. We must not be fooled by soaking in cyber-“fellowship.” Nothing replaces consistent, flesh-and-blood, face to face fellowship. Nothing replaces the local body of Christ. And I mean local. We even stretch the limits of this kind of fellowship when we have to drive an hour to gather with God’s people on Sundays and therefore rarely have contact throughout the week.

“You Have Cake on Your Face”

I was at a wedding once talking with an old “friend” I had not seen in a long time. We caught up for 10 to 15 minutes. As that conversation ended, I immediately ran into a close friend of mine. He took one look at me and said, “You’ve got cake on your face.” So I had been standing there talking for all that time with cake on my face and my “friend” never told me. I recently read these Proverbs:

“Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
Profuse are the kisses of an enemy. . . .
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
And the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.”
Proverbs 27:5-6, 9

How refreshing and comforting it is to have friends in your life who love you enough to tell you the truth. That is the kind of community we have been building in our church. Although one has to be humble enough to accept the truth, I have a sense of security knowing that my church family will not let me wander off to my own destruction.