I would never have imagined how much spiritual truth would be mirrored through the team dynamics I experienced as a basketball coach. One of these truths revolves around team unity. I discovered early on in coaching that our impact on the court corresponded with the degree of team unity we achieved.
To start the first practice of each season, I would ask the players to gather within the circle at halfcourt. I would give them some time to move around and visit with each other. The only guideline was they couldn’t step outside the circle. After a little time, I would ask some rhetorical questions. Does it feel a bit close (yes)? Is there still room to move around (yes)? I was making the point that being on a team required submission to some boundaries, necessitated closeness, and an invitation to embrace the reality that we had a diverse set of contributions to offer.
Each team I coached had young men or women bringing a wide array of skills, personalities, and physical attributes. In order to maximize that potential, we needed to honor one another, do our part, and embrace the attitude that we didn’t care who received the glory. The truth was undeniable. The truth was none of us could do what all of us could do.
As it turns out, our teams were mirroring a critically important spiritual truth. Namely, our impact as believers is determined by our unity within the body.
In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul builds a case for this truth. Notice verse 3, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” That is a strong command. My sense is all of us agree with this truth, it is just challenging to live out.
We are human beings with diverse gifts, personalities, and ways of thinking about things. There is a temptation to allow differences in the body of Christ to cause us to separate. Another way to say this is we tend to stay in our respective streams and take steps to ensure our streams do not intersect or merge.
Paul touches on this diversity in Ephesians 4:11, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers, to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We are clearly called to empower each other to exercise our gifts, personalities, and ways of thinking in an effort to achieve a strong degree of unity.
This should come as no surprise given Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-21, “I pray…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” This forces me to ask if my disagreement with brothers and sisters in Christ is worth separating and making sure our streams do not intersect or merge. Personally, I have concluded that in the far majority of circumstances, it is not worth the cost of forfeiting John 21b, “…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Indeed, none of us can do what all of us can do. Let us embrace the reality that our unity within the body determines our impact for the gospel.
