Better Together

In our society, we celebrate the individual, right? Individual accomplishment reigns as the supremacy of a sport. Even on a team we have the MVP (Most Valuable Player). Yet when it comes to problems and pain, we seem to have this overwhelming desire to come together and share in our sufferings. Why is this?

We are designed to be in relationship. Although individual performance is, in itself, not a bad thing, the process of acknowledging this, has as a by-product, a cost that falls on those who are defeated. We have become so accustomed to this, we even have entire television shows dedicated to bloopers, or audition failures, that we laugh at. Not the worse thing ever, but hardly the definition of better together, right?

Better together works, when at its core, is the practice of generosity. Look at this verse:

Acts 4:32 (NIV) 
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” 

Did the early church have more than we do today? Not by a long shot. The early church simply had folks more committed to each other than to themselves. Generosity fails when it has, as its condition, the goal of equality.

Equality is not what makes generosity work. Actually, equality is really only defined by comparison (equal to what?). What makes generosity work is contentment. I can be generous when I am not worried about what I have, in relation to what someone else has: that is comparison. Contentment dies a slow painful death when held in the light of comparison.

When we live our lives compared to anyone except Jesus Christ, we will lose contentment. Only with a proper perspective of what we have, as being gifts from God, can we live generously. We then, can give what we have been given, in the form of treasure, talents, and time. Not giving compared to a salary or a situation, but in light of what has already been given to you.

We are better together because of what we give, not what we have. So do you give out of comparison or in response to what you have been given. The latter is how we can act Christ-like, and truly be “Better Together”.

…just prayin’

In His Grip,
Pastor Pat