Building the Blaze

Over time, our lives become filled with clutter and noise. In dealing with the daily grind, and with no accountability to keep us growing, our once vibrant lives increasingly settle into a tedious routine.

That isn’t the Lord’s desire for our lives! We’ve been given free will because He expects us to make choices instead of allowing circumstances to dictate our lives. To become white-hot, we need to actively seek new growth and understanding.

Becoming a white-hot Christian is not a solitary activity!

For most of our lives, we strive to avoid crowds. We see crowds as negative because they are typically filled with self-centered and even mean-spirited people. To most, a crowd means failure. With so many people striving for the same thing, what is the chance of individual success? A crowd can indeed be a dangerous place when filled with the wrong emotion, such as greed or fear.

Selfish and scheming behavior is another crowd-killer. In these crowds, nothing is accomplished because the members are unwilling to share. Strengths and insight are horded to protect individual power instead of working together toward the best solution. This type of group inspired the phrase, “it died in committee.”

Thankfully, there is a third type of group where support and teamwork are valued as the source of success. In this group, when one member improves, everyone benefits. With football season here, let use an NFL metaphor: .

Even the best coach in the world can’t win a game without players. No one player can expect to be good at every position. No individual ever won a game single-handedly. A team of 11 quarterbacks or 11 linemen will never win a championship.

Continuing the metaphor, a well-disciplined and cohesive team wins games through team efforts, not individual performances, but teamwork starts with the individual. Teams are broken down into offense and defense. On offense you have specific coaches and practices for quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, lineman, and kickers. Defense is broken down similarly. A championship-caliber team does the little things right and builds community.

These truths can be equally applied to Cypress Meadows. The goal of small groups and Next Step Partnerships is to hone our abilities by sharing our strengths, and growing spiritually by taking personal responsibility to learn and be more involved in our faith. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

Doing anything well takes commitment. You are being challenged to get involved and use your strengths for the greater glory of God.

~ Marq Caughell