Prophet Bono drops another great quote

Every functioning entity must have individual parts that work for the good of the whole, and not themselves (that's not the Bono quote...it comes later)

Think about this- it's true for everything.

A great team must have role players who get the ball to the scorers.
A great band must have a drummer who works to make the bass sound good, the bass works to make the guitars sound good, the guitars work to make the vocals sound good (That's a quote from our new drummer, Austin, who was trained and influenced musically by Andy Landers).
A marriage must have a husband who submits to God and who lovingly lays down his life for his wife, and the wife submits to the husband and lays down her rights for him.
The cell must have a... (OK, I'm not a bio-chemist, but from everything I learned in 9th grade biology, I'm pretty sure it's true for the cell)
And most fundamentally- the Trinity must have a loving Father with a Son who perfectly does the Father's will with a Spirit who puts all attention on the Son.

I was just talking to Todd Wallace, our worship leader, about this, and lo and behold, another quote from the prophet Bono came to mind.

This is so insightful...

When asked how U2 has stayed in tact for so many years, he said:

"All the members of U2 know that we'll only ever be 1/4 of U2. But being one-fourth of U2 is better than being the whole of something else."

In other words, U2 could've imploded if one of them ever decided to have their own agenda- to make it about something other than the band (i.e. themselves). That doesn't mean the band doesn't have a leader or front man (clearly, Bono), but everyone looks to make the others in the band better. Even if that means they fade into obscurity.

That's hard to take. That's why pride destroys great teams or organisms or businesses (or any entity) quicker than anything.

But at the end of the day, wouldn't you rather be Russ Hochstein, an offensive lineman on the New England Patriots, who has a Super Bowl ring for all 10 fingers (maybe he has some he wears on his toes, too) than Dominique Wilkins, who will always be known as the guy who scored a lot of points and had some cool dunks but never won anything?

I want to be willing to be an unknown 1/4 of something great, than be the whole of a Mark-centered dysfunction.