Articles
Working Together
When I was young, I used to love to watch the television show Gilligan’s Island. On one of
the episodes, Gilligan had done something silly and had made the other castaways mad. This
upset Gilligan so, he decided he would just move into a cave on the other side of the island all by
himself. It didn’t take long before Gilligan noticed this was not such a good idea and he became
lonely. Meanwhile, the other castaways began to miss Gilligan and feel guilty about how they
had treated him and began to miss him. The Skipper missed his “little buddy” so much he
decided to leave the camp and go and live with Gilligan so he would not be alone. Then another
person did the same. Then another. Until finally, all seven of the castaways were together again
on the other side of the island in Gilligan’s cave.
That episode taught me a little bit about what it means to be a part of something. Here’s a
fun exercise for you to do when you have time. Use your concordance and find all of the
scriptures from Acts to Revelation in which you find the word “together” and see what early
Christians did together. Here’s a sampling: Meeting together. Praying together. Sharing material
things with one another. Eating together. Consulting with and advising one another. Planning and
strategizing together. Working together. Standing together when under attack.
Jesus Christ never intended for any of His followers to follow Him in isolation from other
believers. Wherever it’s possible, Christ intends for all of us to be in this together, not just for
one hour on Sunday mornings — not just during “official” church meetings, but through the day
to day course of life. Yes, God can use us individually, but His intention is for us to work
together, as a body, as a living breathing organism, as His Church. Challenge yourself to do more
things together with the body of Christ. ~ Matt Heupel & Jay Mitchell; The Book Nearer
