No, not at all. Many denominations, churches and mission agencies performed great work in helping the Body of Christ grow over the years, especially in the last two (19th and 20th) centuries. But all too frequently there is a tendency of some people in the Body to think that a denomination, church or mission agency should work for the kingdom without partnering with others outside their group.

Look at it this way. Open a newly arrived pizza in the box. What do you see? A whole pizza cut in slices. The whole pizza represents the Body of Christ. The slices are parts of the Body. No one slice can be the whole pizza. It can’t even pretend to be the whole pizza. Any one part never can be the whole. A slice doesn’t even look like the whole pizza. So a slice alone simply can’t represent the whole pizza without joining or partnering with the other slices. And no partnering means no synergy.

Synergy means that results are greater when components/elements work together or in partnership, or “more bang for your buck.” If Store A offers apples at $2.00/pound and Store B offers them at $1.00/pound, the smart person will buy apples at Store B because you get twice as many apples for the same price.

Partnerships work like that. The word “synergy” is actually a New Testament principle and comes from the Greek word sunergos (sun = with, ergos = work, energy) meaning fellow worker, companion, helper, etc. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.” “Work together” is sunergos. If God works things that way, shouldn’t we?