You are on God’s Team
Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
––Hebrews 10:25
In western culture individualism is the theme and you have to compete and get what’s yours. The idea of coming together unselfishly for a larger goal is not in the messaging we get as men. When was the last time you saw an ad that promoted the idea of putting other guys’ needs before your own?
We need to rise above in this journey, in this road to glory as God’s men. We have to rise above the personal challenges to be the best that we can be as individual God’s men and in our personal character. But then we need to bring that to the table and to the team of other men of God. Together we have to focus on the prize. Paul encourages us to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
The game of tennis is a vivid example of team versus individual sports. When you are playing singles your total objective is to employ everything you have to individually defeat your opponent across the net. However, when you jump across the net and play doubles, your game strategy changes considerably. You’re now a team and not an individual, and your mindset shifts mentally and physically to accomplish your goal.
Welcome to the Book of Acts. In it we see the church sprouting up and growing with incredible speed—from Jerusalem to Judea to the utter ends of the earth. How did it grow so fast? Individualism? No. Teamwork. Exponential, ten-fold-factoring acceleration that can only be achieved when like-spirited and like-minded people hoe the row together. You then see the knowledge of the Gospel evolve into what God wanted to take place: the team-minded strategy to win the world and build his kingdom. God’s Kingdom is a team sport.
Father, you have again taught me it’s not all about me; help me get outside myself and join with fellow sojourners in You.