Unity Equals Victory

In football, I love the idea that when a play is called by the quarterback in the huddle that every member of the offense knows what his assignment is for that particular play.  The play is called, the players ‘break’ the huddle and line up in their unique positions.  The quarterback then barks a series of signals that either changes the play at the line of scrimmage or signals the start of the play.  Bam!  All eleven players move indiscriminately toward their assignment to achieve movement toward the ‘goal’ line.  Some teams are very good at this and others are just average.  And no matter that you have a superstar at one or two positions, without everyone doing their part, that team will not win as often as the team where every player is synced with the other players, all doing their part.

The apostle Paul stated it thusly to the Ephesians:

11 And He Himself  (Christ) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 (a) for the equipping of the saints (b) for the work of ministry, (c) for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

I’m convinced that someone read this passage and then invented team sports.  Every team sport has individual positions and one or more of those positions serve as a leader for the team to excel and achieve their goal of victory.

Whether it is marriage (a two-team sport), family, business, or ecclesia (church), Paul’s game plan works every time.  Unity equals Victory!

As leaders, let us share the vision succinctly, incorporate all the players, outline the assignment for each position and provide leadership that unites the players along the way to victory.  We can do this!