For years, Uber and Lyft have been competing with Avis and Hertz for airport riders. Now they’re working together.
Uber and Lyft drivers can rent cars near the end of their rental lives for a little more than $200 a week. These drivers can thus work without wearing out their cars or incurring major maintenance expenses. Rental car companies get more revenue from their cars before selling them off.
The added income also helps level the financial playing field. Rental cars are taxed at a much higher rate than ride-hail trips: cities and states see visitors as ripe for taxation since they don’t vote in their jurisdiction.
And the détente is good for airports. They have invested in major facilities for rental car companies and profit significantly from fees on car rentals. It is in their financial interest for rental car companies to thrive.
The risks and power of unity
Cooperation for a larger, mutually beneficial cause is a strategy with biblical roots.
Moses learned from his father-in-law to delegate decision-making authority to leaders within the nation, which led to greater ownership and cooperation while enabling Moses to fulfill his leadership role (Exodus 18:13–26).
The apostles chose men with Greek names to minister to Greek-speaking widows, avoiding dissension that could have split the church and leading to the advance of the kingdom (Acts 6:1–7).
The unity of the church across racial and cultural divides was one of its most distinctive features and most powerful witnesses to the culture (cf. Galatians 3:26–28).
From then to now, the Christian movement has brought disparate peoples together in a larger cause that glorifies God and serves the needs of the community.
If you put people against the walls of a room and ask them to unify themselves, they’ll stand in confusion. But if you put a chair in the middle of the room and ask them to walk toward the chair, they’ll walk toward each other as well.
When Jesus is the Lord of our lives, we want to serve and glorify him with all we do. When others make him their Lord as well, we find that we and they have a common cause larger than ourselves. As the body of Christ, we work together for a greater good than we can achieve individually (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27).
Metaphorically, whether we’re an Uber driver or a Hertz manager, someone in the body of Christ can help us as we help them. The more we do together, the more we answer Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his people (John 17:22–23).
Missionary Charles Brent: “The unity of Christendom is not a luxury, but a necessity. The world will go limping until Christ’s prayer that all may be one is answered. We must have unity, not at all costs, but at all risks. A unified church is the only offering we dare present to the coming Christ.”
What risks will you take to glorify your Father by working in unity with his family?
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