Is Christianity a Team or Individual Sport?

“Those of us who choose to treat Christianity as a team sport have a special advantage.”

I love this quote by Larry Osbourne in his book “Spirituality For The Rest of Us.”  He is talking about the value of being in a Life Group.  Seeing the growth and strengthening of our faith as  something we do together has distinct advantages over seeing our life of faith as an individual exercise.

He says there are three advantages to being connected with a small group of people:

1. 1.     It’s hard to hide.  All of us wear masks to keep people at a distance and to protect our reputations or how people view us.  When we get to know a group of people and people get to know us we have a better chance of someone encouraging us when we need it or kicking us in the rear when we need it.  The key phrase?  “…when we need it…”.  When we are alone, people don’t know what we need.
2. 2.     We get the benefit of positive peer pressure.  Check our Hebrews 10:24-25.  When we hang out together, we help each love better and do the right thing more often.  That’s positive peer pressure.
3. 3.     We have a place to be honest.  We all need people who want to know how we are really doing and who can handle the truth.  Sometimes life stinks.  We need people we can be honest with about that.  Sometimes life is glorious.  We need people who can rejoice with us.

It doesn’t happen all at once and it doesn’t happen with every person in a group but when we take the step to regularly connect with a group of people to encourage each other, pray for each other and learn with each other, good things begin to happen.

Who are you connected to?  No one should be standing alone.

David