Bottom line is that life is hard right now… although some
places have opened back up… some opened and then shut again…, the pandemic has
been rough on the team… even when we are together it is with the idea of social
distancing…
Yesterday our pastor pointed out that to say someone has
potential can be a negative comment. Sure, if we say it about a young player it
is good in what we the future may hold; but the older one gets, the more that
becomes the idea of unreached potential. Think of the athlete that has all the
tools for greatness but never does anything with it. “Got potential” can mean
that one is lazy or uncaring… unfulfilled expectations.
In the sports world we always encourage finding workout
partners to stay accountable… teammates to build up… left to ourselves it is
easy to slack off. As humans, we are relational, and need one another to stay
motivated.
Yesterday’s sermon brought these things to mind… as the
Scriptures tell us encourage one another… to sharpen one another… to assemble
together…
Pastor Matt made a good point about why Sundays, in and
of themselves (even when meeting without restrictions), can be inadequate in
meeting this need. On Sundays we sit in rows, which connect us to the stage but
not to one another; whereas Life Groups (personal teams) allow us to “circle up”
or “huddle up” and see we are in this thing together.
Do you have a “team” to “circle up” with? To keep you accountable
and motivated? To keep accountable and motivated?
When we are commanded to “not forsake the assembling of
ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25) it is surrounded by other commands that go
with it… in other words it is not just about the assembly, but what we do there…
Hebrews 10:24 tells us to “consider” (fix our eyes/mind
upon) our teammates in order to “stir up” (incite or provoke) “love and good
works.” Then later in verse 25 it says we assemble for the purpose of “exhorting
one another” (carries the ideas of consoling, encouraging, instructing); and
this is to increase as we “see the Day approaching.”
You don’t have to listen long to hear folks talk about the
idea of us being in the latter times… no matter what you think on that, we are
closer today than yesterday! Thus, we need to not just be faithful to find ways
to assemble but also to fulfill the reason for the assembling…
When I would yell “circle up” to my team or my campers,
it meant that I wanted to share with them (encouragement and/or instruction)…
to look them in the eye a little more intently that when they were spread throughout
the gym in lines…
Church, Circle Up! We need each other to reach our
potential of turning the world upside down… (Thanks, Matt for some good food
for thought yesterday.)
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