Come Together: A Guest Post from Matt VanCleave
In spite of the fact that it may not always feel and look it, God created His church to be one – to be together, in harmony, united in thought and purpose. It’s an incredible feeling when a group of people are united and everyone is going the same direction.
On the other hand, nothing is quite as frustrating or challenging as when a group, a church, a community, a family, or a team is supposed to be going the same direction, but they don’t.
There’s a great movie starring Denzel Washington that I’m sure many of you have seen. Washington plays Coach Boone in the movie, “Remember the Titans.” It’s a true story about a coach who inherits a high school football team where egos and apathy and racism and hatred rule.
Where there is supposed to be unity in the team, there is divisiveness and hate. A turning point comes early one morning at their training camp when the coach gets all the players out of bed and leads them on an unexpected run.
Coach Boone says, “Unless we come together, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed.” The great news is they do come together and they make history, by winning the Virginia State Football Title and, more importantly, by bringing reconciliation to the whole town. It’s a true story.
We need to be reminded that Jesus Christ died so that we not only could be reconciled with God but remarkably, also with each other. The unity of any group and especially the church can be incredibly powerful. I’m asking myself this question today, “Am I doing my part to make sure this is happening in my church?”
