Rain fell heavy as greeters said their goodbyes to fellow church goers.
For a few moments, no one stood by the door to offer their farewells. In that small window of time, a young family gathered nearby, readying their three little ones for the weather.
Suddenly, a man rushed past me, grabbed his umbrella, and proceeded to help this young family to their car. He’d never met them, nor did he need to. He simply saw an opportunity to help and hopped into action.
Oh, the beauty of impromptu service. Although not officially on the greeting team that morning, he was, in fact, part of a much larger influential team: the Church. He could’ve easily reasoned that others were there to specifically help in that area and turned away.
Gwen Stefani’s Glitz Team Shirts
If you watch The Voice (how’s that for a segue?) you know Gwen Stefani presented her team members with a Team Gwen glitzy t-shirt. No doubt it will someday snag a sweet price on Ebay.
Hey Church! We may not wear a glitzy Team Jesus on our shirts, but do we really need one?
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Staying in Step with the Spirit: When we see others in action for Christ, we can’t help but be touched, knowing the One spurring them on will receive much glory.
Heavenly Father, kindle our hearts afire so that we might shine brightly for Your fame and glory.
Would you consider yourself a competitive person? See if any of these five signs show up on your radar, compliments of Story Pick:
1. You get super crazy when you’re about to lose a game.
2. When you are on the treadmill at the gym you have to go faster than the person next to you.
3. When you lose, you take it personal.
4. You fake congratulate your opponent (if he/she beats you.)
5. Your competition doesn’t have an age…kids to the elderly, bring ’em on!
Who needs “Team Gwen” shirts? (The Voice)
It’s fun watching our children compete in sports and competition certainly offers many life lessons hard knocks along the way. Sometimes, though, this competitive spirit can trickle into our churches. If names were stitched on the back of jerseys, some might read:
Dunker
Sprinkler
Confessor or
Shouter, just to name a few.
A competitive spirit can even occur in churches who are very similar.
It’s for this reason (and many more) that I’m grateful to be part of a church that believes in partnering rather than competing. A few tangible ways this philosophy is fleshed out at Summit Upstate:
Our pastors/elders often pray for other churches within our community on Sunday mornings.
Summit blesses other nearby churches financially on a regular basis.
We are encouraged to pray for the churches passed on our way to Summit on Sunday mornings.
As one of our lead pastors, Jason Malone, points out: one local church won’t reach a city.
Personally, I’m also trying to become more intentional about lifting up Gospel-driven churches if they’re criticized in my presence. I can’t say that’s something I’ve always done, unfortunately, but now I try to find what a church is doing right, knowing they will reach people our church never will, and vice versa. We’re all on the same team!
Staying in Step with the Spirit: Some of us are hands, some are feet—but we’re all one Body in Christ Jesus. When we move as the Body was designed to, we can’t help but stay in step with the Holy Spirit, bringing much glory to God.
Heavenly Father, may our churches stand firm in truth with our fingers wide open, releasing any spirit of competitiveness in order that we might embrace the blessing of partnership instead. None of us, Lord. All of You.
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