Jeff Ray, longtime professor at Southwestern Seminary, used to say to his students, “Young men, be kind to everyone because everyone is having a hard time.” He was right. Some burdens are seen. But some of the deepest and most powerful ones aren’t. If we but knew the battles people were fighting, we would be more understanding of them.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” Some people live under the burden of constant and intense pain, some under the fear of recurring cancer, some under the grief of a lost child or mate, some under the anguish of divorce, and some with the disappointments and heartach...
John Wooten, the great UCLA basketball coach who won 10 National Championships in 11 years said, “No team ever won the National Championship with the nation’s leading scorer on the team.” Then he added, “It takes teamwork to make the dream work.”
This principle is just as true in marriage, in business, and in the Christian life as it is in sports. They can never be a one-man show. It takes teamwork to make the dream work.
It is especially true in the Christian life. So, we are urged in scripture to not neglect meeting regularly together with the people of God. It is a simple fact that you need the encouragement and inspiration you get in church, and the church needs you. And we all need Jesus. Evangelist John Wesley said it best, “There is no such thing as solitary Christianity.” We all need one another.