Articles
Being Part of a Team
"I can remember when I was a kid just starting out and wanting to be part of something bigger than myself. For every high school kid or college player, there's greatness in being the kind of teammate who truly wants to be part of the team … There are special moments that come from a shared commitment, to play a role while doing it together. That's what you remember – not your stats or your prestige, but the relationships and the achievement you [shared] through a group ... There's great joy in that.” - Tony Romo, quarterback, Dallas Cowboys
Tony Romo is here reflecting on his declining status as the quarterback for the Cowboys. Having been injured earlier in the year, his rookie backup, Dak Prescott, is now the starter with an 9-1 record. But the point I wish to notice has nothing to do with football, or even sports per se. It has to do with a sense of belonging, of being part of something “bigger than myself” as Romo says.
You see, contrary to contemporary thought, it’s not all about me. The meaning of our existence must be broader and deeper than personal achievement, indulgence or notoriety. We are fundamentally social creatures, and we reach our height of value and fulfillment by mutual endeavors. Soldiers who together stare down death and save each other’s lives are bonded for life. “No soldier left behind!” they cry as they risk their own lives under withering fire to rescue a comrade.
Perhaps you have had a similar experience. Maybe it was a special work project; a school play or choir tour; a political campaign or a community project. At the end of a job well done, you know the exhilaration of working together, sacrificing, overcoming obstacles, putting your whole heart and soul into a common objective. You helped others excel, mature, accomplish more than they could have alone. Indeed, the sum was greater than the parts.
But all of this, and more, is what it means to be part of the Lord’s body, the church. When we enter union with the Lord as His servant and disciple, we immediately become part of a greater assembly, association and family of fellow believers.
“You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19).
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God” (1 Pet 2:9-10).
This is true in a universal sense; that is, we automatically have global fellowship with all others who embrace Christ for salvation. We share core beliefs, common values and connected objectives. But it is also true that this universal bond becomes tangible and real at the local level where we seek for the like-minded in our neighborhoods with whom we can link arms and work together: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common … Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (Acts 4:32, 34-35).
In coming decades these same Jerusalem brethren faced success and hardship together: tremendous popularity and growth; severe persecution; internal controversy; famine and eventually the total devastation of their city by the Romans. Through it all they could revel in the satisfaction that they were part of a bigger plan, a divine outworking that resulted in the eternal salvation of souls.
Have we lost sight of the bigger picture? The world exalts the meaningless, covets the fleeting, praises the trivial. I’m sure it would be pretty neat to be the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, but it pales in comparison to being on God’s team, doing our part to fight the cosmic forces of evil, rescuing the wounded and downtrodden, courageously defending truth, representing the Lord Himself in this broken, lost and dying world.
Not everyone can be a member of the Dallas Cowboys; only the select few will ever breathe that rarified air. But God’s kingdom is open to all, and its rewards far surpass throwing touchdown passes, winning Super Bowls and making obscene amounts of money. By the way, does anyone remember how many yards and/or TDs Tony Romo had at quarterback last year?
