When I was in high school, I discovered that I had a passion for electronics. So, I decided to major in Electrical Engineering in college. I worked hard and got my degree. And I had to do so as an individual; there’s no such thing as a shared diploma!
Eventually I graduated with all the knowledge and educational credentials I needed to be the engineer I had dreamed of being.
But the real fruition of my dream came when I landed a job at IBM as a Junior Engineer. Now, my success was no longer a matter of individual effort alone. I was part of a team, and the skills I had worked so hard to acquire as an individual could now only bear fruit as they were combined with the efforts of the other members of that team.
The Christian life is something like that.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Believers in Christ are not just individuals with a personal relationship with Him. No, we are also a “holy nation; His own special people.” In other words, we are a team!
The work of God’s kingdom is not designed to be accomplished by individuals who focus just on their own personal relationship with God, but by a coordinated team working together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what the church is all about – God’s people working together as a team, each one applying his or her individual knowledge, skills, and gifts to achieve together what none of us can achieve alone.
Ron Franklin
