Luke 10:1 “The Lord appointed seventy two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place he was about to go.”
A team is never less than two, and usually it’s more than that. Whatever the number, we need each other. Your strengths compensate for my weaknesses, and our gifts complement each other. When I’m discouraged, you can lift my spirits, and vice versa. ‘We’ beats ‘I’. Lone rangers seldom get far, and neither do they leave a lasting legacy – not a positive one, at least.
We’ve all seen geese flying through the sky in a V-formation. They do it for a number of reasons. Scientists have shown that those flying in the slipstream gain 71% more lift through the efforts of the ones in front. The lead goose obviously doesn’t have the benefit of anyone else’s help, so when it feels tired, it simply swaps with one of the others. The ones at the back make all the loud noises, cooing away to encourage the one at the front. If one goes off and flies out of formation, it encounters strong resistance and finds it much more difficult to progress. Working together is far for effective.
Jesus knew that meaning is found in community, not individualism. He knew that there was strength in numbers. He demonstrated the value of team as he selected his small band of disciples to invest in over a number of years. Notice how the individual disciples messed up when they found themselves isolated – Judas went to betray Jesus alone, Peter denied Jesus when he found himself alone.
Are you plugged in with your local community of faith, in a small group of fellow stragglers and strugglers who are committed to modeling kingdom values together? Or are you isolated? Are you a lone ranger for Jesus? Get on a team, fly in formation, or you won’t make it!
Lord, I choose today to be intentional in journeying with others as I follow you. Amen!
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