We were defeated. Disappointed. We just lost by 10 runs to a team in Auburn, Indiana. It was the summer between my Sophomore and Junior year of high school. Our summer league baseball team was made up of guys who had grown up playing with each other or against each other. We all joined together with one purpose in mind: to win the state championship.
But like I said, we had just lost by 10 runs. Not exactly the way you want to go about winning the state championship. Luckily, the tournament hadn’t actually started yet. We were still figuring out this reality that together is better.
Soon enough, it clicked. Game after game we played the best baseball of our lives. A different teammate was stepping up each game to become the difference between us losing a close game and winning by a few runs. We beat teams by a lot once we realized that together is better. We were united under one common purpose and we found out that this unity, this togetherness, was powerful.
We kept winning and kept winning.
We were moving right a long in the tournament and then we had to face an opponent that gave us problems earlier in the summer. We were slated to face the team from Auburn, IN that 10-run-ruled us a short time before. We weren’t afraid. We were confident. We were together. We were united.
We won that game. Actually, we won it handily. Because we were united under one common purpose, we played not just for ourselves, but for each other. That is what being a great team is all about.
State Championship
We had made it. We were in the Indiana State Championship game for U16. We were ready. Back and forth we battled. This 18U team that was disqualified to move on before the game even started was full of varsity high school players. We had a couple. They pulled away. We came back. They pulled away again and it proved to be too much for us. Indiana didn’t have a State Representative that year in the Regional tournament, but we knew we had given it our all. We left everything on the field that summer. We were State Runner-Ups. Not bad for a team that got 10-run-ruled to start the summer off.
Together is Better: The power of common purpose.
This principle is true in sports, but it is also true in life. There are 47 “one another” commands given to followers of Jesus in the New Testament and they are found in 94 different verses. We are commanded to be together – to be in community with one another. We are commanded and called to have a common purpose that we are united on: to love God, to love people, to make disciples of all nations.
If you are not in consistent community with other Christians, you are missing out on the power of together. Make a change. Join a small group at your local church. You’ll find out what it means when I say together is better. [Tweet “If you are not in consistent community with other Christians, you are missing out on the power of together”]
To give you an idea of all of the “one another” commands found in the New Testament, see the infographic below and reflect on how powerful it would be if you were in community with other Christians and you were all united on living out these “one another” commands.
