Bridges

Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

What do you believe?  Every day, 140,000 vehicles would cross the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, based upon the belief that it would allow them to safely cross the Mississippi River.  During rush-hour on August 1, 2007, the bridge collapsed and thirteen people lost their lives.  In the ensuing hours and days it seemed that the entire world focused its attention on that bridge.  News camera crews descended from all of the major television networks, broadcasting from the banks of the Mississippi.

In a world filled with terrorism, natural disaster, urban violence, and endless tragedy, one might well ask why this event attracted so many watchers – so much concern.   Visitors came from everywhere to view the fallen pieces, to wonder that any escaped with their lives, to identify with travelers everywhere who risk their lives daily to cross a bridge somewhere in the world.  And that is at the heart of why this singular event draws such attention and analysis. 

Building bridges is a highly technical feat of engineering.  Controlling and maintaining them is the role of governments.  Capturing them is the goal of generals and armies.  Lands and peoples are brought together by them because they occupy strategic points that enable commerce, transportation, and communication.  Bridges are the key to overcoming the obstacles in life, whether crossing rivers or connecting people.

When you operate a business, you need many bridges.  These kinds of structures are every bit as vital as the ones of steel and concrete.  They are interpersonal in nature, and just as in need of construction, maintenance, and protection from enemy advances.  Some people may look at the owner of a business, whether successful or not, as a person who occupies a rarified place of privilege.  In truth, an island of isolation is often the place where the business owner finds himself, closed-off from the bridges he needs in order to lead well, and to make wise decisions.

In World War II, Operation Market Garden was envisioned as the thrust that would take the Allied Armies across the Rhine River and into Berlin, in one overwhelming push.  Author Cornelius Ryan wrote about it in his book, A Bridge Too Far, which was also made into a movie starring Sean Connery.  It was an effort to capture the bridges that would allow Allied troops to cross over the rivers that prevented them from moving to the ultimate goal.  The bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands, proved to be too far to be supported, and the Allied advance was stopped because crucial supply lines could not be set up and maintained.

Every metaphor eventually breaks down somewhere, but it would not be taking this one too far to suggest that there are at least several vital relationship bridges that you need in your life.  First is the familiar one of Jesus Christ, and the saving grace that bridges the chasm between you and the land of faith in God.  Second is the bridge of submission to God, over which you practice the attitude of following Him to the land of discipleship.  The third bridge is friendship between you and other men who are where you are in the ownership of a business entrusted to them by God, in the land of accountability.

So, what do you believe?  Perhaps it would be important to ask, who do you believe in? Are your bridges strong and your supply lines secure?  Are you overextended and isolated from the support you need to be effective in life and in business?  Guys, Jesus is not only the bridge, but He is the master builder, and the supplier of the tensile strength that will keep the commerce of your life flowing with power.  He is calling you to join Him in building the bridge of transformation that leads to the Land of the Noble Life.  How will you respond?