What Binds Us Together

For the past two years I have been getting up early three days a week (most weeks!) to walk or jog on Rushing Road. One person has been with me the whole time, Forrest Grimmett. It was his idea. At Thanksgiving Dinner at church two years ago he looked across the table and over my piled up plate and asked if I wanted to start exercising with him. What could I say?

It's been a great two years in a lot of ways. I've lost weight. I've cut my BP and cholesterol meds in half. I have more energy. I've bought new clothes! And I've gained dozens of sermon ideas and illustrations.

A few days ago I was thinking about this journey. Forrest and I have had others join us. And we've had some leave us. The reasons for hopping off Rushing Road vary. "Not for me." "Too much work." "Too early." "Not getting enough out of it." "I'll do something else, somewhere else, with someone else."

As we started out and began to shape up a bit, our band of merry walkers was strung out along Rushing Road. We didn't all go at the same pace. Then some began to run while others still walked so we were strung out further and further.

I think people think that doing something together means doing it at the same pace. Granted, I've told Deana that I'd rather walk with her than run without her. But I prefer to run while she is walking.

What binds us together isn't that we are within arm's reach of one another but that we are all on Rushing Road. It's the road, the path, the journey that binds us together. Some of us run on Rushing Road. Some of us walk on Rushing Road. It doesn't matter if your pace is 18:00 per mile or 8:00 per mile, we are on the same road. We are journeying together.

That reminds me of church in a lot of ways. We ought to focus on the journey - which is walking with Jesus. As a church, we journey together. So I don't understand why some who start the journey quit. "Not for me." "Too much work." "Too early." "Not getting enough out of it." "I'll do something else, somewhere else, with someone else."

Rather than focus on how spread out we are on the journey, focus on the journey. It's true that some people have been walking longer with Jesus. It's true that some people put more effort into walking with Jesus. It's true that - for whatever reasons - some people get more out of walking with Jesus. To let that frustrate you (or puff you up) is like using the differences on Rushing Road as an excuse to quit exercising.

The journey, the walk with Jesus, is what binds a group of people together as a church. We help each other. We encourage each other. We share the load. But letting the fact that we aren't all within arm's length of each other deter us from the journey makes as much sense as letting the same reality keep us from Rushing Road.

Sometimes I think that church people think we are to be bound by a rope tied all around us keeping us firmly together. Maybe that rope is to be stretched out along the path and we are all to hold on to it - wherever we are along the path of walking with Jesus. It's time to break out of the Holy Huddle and enjoy the journey.