1 Corinthians 1:10- I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. (The Message Bible)
Yesterday was one of the more holy days in the church calendar- the day Phillies pitchers and catchers began spring training work outs. For those of us with short memories, one year ago we Phillies fans went into spring training with new stars and great expectations. We cruised through the regular season winning our division handily only to be defeated in the playoffs by a vastly inferior St. Louis Cardinal team (no bitterness here!). Somehow, even though we have many of the same players as last year, it is hard to get up the enthusiasm of spring 2011. The Corinthian team was disappointing to Paul. They had their stars but weren’t playing together and were in danger of failing to reach their potential. In our highly individualistic society we tend to view faith in exclusively personal terms; personal faith, personal devotion. In the bible personal faith is only the beginning. The emphasis is not on what the individual accomplishes but on what the group can do together. Lent can be a kind of spring training, preparing us for the cross and the empty tomb. But we don’t play an individual game like golf. The life of faith is a team sport like baseball. Whose team are you on? What sort of teammate are you?
Don
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 