January 4, 2004

Challenge for '04

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

As we begin a new year I want to challenge myself and everyone that if we want to succeed we must go forward together. There is always the danger of having our own desires get so much priority that we end up moving forward but are all alone when we get there. I want to challenge us all that we will have much more success and more enjoyment along the way if we go forward together. Whether it be in school, work, church or wherever we must seek to move forward together to achieve success. There are many parts to the body of Christ and any one cannot move forward without the others. In the same way we should seek to move forward as a connected focused team and realize that we all serve a purpose. We need each other to succeed. There is not a one among us that can bring about success of the team on their own but any one of us not moving with the rest of the team can hinder the success. If I succeed but the team fails then my success was wasted. We should all strive to succeed in our own goals and dreams but if those goals take away from the greater success of the team then I would challenge it may not be the right goal.

We all know the jobs we are currently doing and what is expected of us in those jobs. We know that our success does not wholly depend on our job but instead how our job affects how someone else can do theirs. Our team depends not only on us doing our job but on our support of our teammates. We must seek to understand not only our own responsibilities but also the responsibilities of our teammates. Their success depends on ours and ours depends on theirs. In understanding how we are interdependent on each other we can then see how much of an issue it is to support and encourage each other so that we can move forward together.

Looking ahead to all that this year has for us we can not know what will happen or when it will happen. Ultimately God is in control and he is the only one who knows all that we will encounter this year. If we can seek to build relationships with each other and support each other no matter what we come up against this year we can know that we will face it as a committed unified team. Let's not seek to go fast, let's strive to go far.