Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

This Sunday evening, America's sports event - Super Bowl XL - will be played in Detroit. The Steelers meet the Seahawks for the world championship. It's a contest of TEAMS, not individuals. The game is not just a match up of Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Hasselbeck, though these men in the quarterback position attract a lot of attention. The efforts of hundreds of people in each organization will be focused on gaining the Lombardi trophy. Coaches, trainers, linemen, receivers, kickers, special teams - will each fulfill their role with the hope of getting the win for the TEAM.

We describe team effort in many ways - network, organization, community, company, squad, troop, band, body, club, church, crew, army - to mention a few. Why so many words to describe our relationships? Because relationships are what makes life happen. Think about that. How much does anyone accomplish on his own? It is as we form the webs of inter-connected relationships that we find a meaningful, purposeful, and effective life.
.
I am part of the Scott family, connected to dozens of people through my parents, my siblings, my children. This past summer I saw how far reaching that web is as I had the privilege of meeting my Danish cousins at a reunion of the Skjodt family at Dad's farm!
I am part of Washington Assembly of God, a body of Believers that works together to educate children, to care for the needy, to provide a place of worship, to strengthen people's commitment to Christ. We pool our resources and share our spiritual gifts. Some amazing things result, things that I could never do alone!
I am part of the Assemblies of God, the body that ordained me to Christian ministry 26 years ago. That world-wide organization connects me to a network of churches and missionaries numbering in the tens of thousands.
I am part of PIP - Pastors In Prayer - a small fellowship of local pastors whose love and support is an invaluable resource to me. Through that little group, numbering less than a dozen, I find friendship and I am able to offer my support to those working locally in God's field alongside of me.
I am an American citizen, a defining description, that is often taken for granted, but as tax-paying citizen of this great nation, I have great privilege and responsibility.

I could go on, but you're hopefully getting the picture. Relationships are built, they do not spring from nowhere! They require hard, and sometimes expensive, work of maintenance. The more we expect from a connection, the more time we must spend on it, weaving the web of inter-connectedness. There are the costs of giving our time, our money, and even some of our autonomy for the sake of the group. Why? Because the best relationships are mutually beneficial - involving give and take. Each of us has had the unfortunate experience of getting into a relationship with a parasite from time to time! Those are life-draining connections where someone who is dysfunctional makes the relationship all about their needs, never returning anything of value.

Jesus said that God's desire for us is summed in just two commands: "Love God wholeheartedly, and love others!" There is a big lie about happiness is that tells you and me that we need to be independent, free from expectations and connections, able to 'do our own thing' in life. Don't buy it. The most miserable people in the world are those without a web of connections that enrich them emotionally, that provide them with opportunities to care for others and to be cared for, that give a setting for the expression of their unique gifts and abilities as part of an organized effort to make a difference!

Are you inter-connected? Are you valuing those ties to others, strengthening them with investment of yourself?
Are you choosing what connections and to whom you are connected with wisdom? The Bible reminds us that we must not be drawn into intimate partnership with those who reject God. "Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, NLT)

We're out to win the world for Christ; not in the sense of conquest, but rather as agents of transformation. The work is obviously beyond anyone of our abilities. But Together we can do it, as the Spirit of God makes us one!

Are you on the TEAM?