No "I" in Team

I love sports. I probably love sports too much. Growing up participating in team sports taught me many valuable lessons that I was able to apply in my life. On almost every team I was a part of, the coach used the well worn catch phrase, “there is no ‘I’ in team.” Everyone knows that there is no “I” in team, but there is a “me.” Thankfully, I was not the smart alec who said that behind the coach’s back. For every team player, there seems to be one who makes being part of a team difficult. In the church, we are also a team, a body actually. Christ prayed for us that we would be unified and seen as one. This is exactly what Jesus prays for in John 17:20-21, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” He asks God that the church, then and in the future, would have as close a union as the Trinity itself! What a prayer, and what a challenge for us today! An interesting aspect to this I often miss is not the emphasis on unity, but the results and reasons Christ prays for unity. The last part of v. 21 is unbelievable: “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Our unity as a body has a huge impact on our ability to reach the world for Christ. We are a team. It doesn’t matter what you think of those at our church, they are the ones that make up our team. As we seek to reach our community with the gospel, our ability to love and serve each other genuinely plays a vital role. Dwell on these verses (and the rest of John 17 if you have time), as we seek to set an example for the rest of the church. Continue to reach out to those in our congregation who may be “on the bench” or might have some “injuries.” We need them, and we need you. Pray for the unity of your church so that your community may believe in Jesus.