Grace __________

The name of our church reveals something about us: we place a high value on community, on the “together” in “becoming like Jesus together.”

I was recently reminded of a phrase I’ve used a lot in the past but haven’t mentioned much in the near past: “It’s more important that we do things together than that we get things done.” It’s not that I don’t think results are important. It’s that I think that ends are not more important than means. As I’ve said more recently, “The journey is the destination.”

It’s easy to get impatient trying to get to the destination. And I hate it when other people point out my impatience! But that’s the point of traveling together. As it says in Proverbs, “iron sharpens iron.” Conflict is a part of being together. So learning to handle conflict well is important to any group that wants to be productive. In his book “Organizing Genius”, Warren Bennis gives many examples of teams of very disparate people that have given us world-changing products.

When are we in relationship? Mostly in growth groups and ministry teams. Being gathered for Sunday worship doesn’t really count because it’s too easy to breeze in and out and not really relate to anyone personally. On a Sunday morning more relating probably goes on in the parking lot than in the sanctuary.

So in our growth groups and ministry teams do we really believe that it’s more important that we do things together than that we get things done? How well do we celebrate or play together? How well do we listen to each other? How well do we support and encourage each other? Without these elements, group Bible study becomes dry, people start looking for reasons to skip meeting together, and ministry becomes merely a time-suck.

One of my jobs as a leader in the church is to help us travel well together. My prayer is not just that each of us will find our unique place in the church community and make a contribution to the whole that is far greater than the sum of the parts. I pray that we will connect with the life-giving joy of being with God and each other.