Striving Together

“that…I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

_Philippians 1:27

Together.

Wait! Don’t rush past that word.

Isn’t it a wonderful word?

Regrettably it is a rare word.

We are much more familiar with the word “strive.”

Its as if our country is divided down the middle and we’re standing on oppositive ends of a large field screaming at each other, insisting that the other side capitulate and come over to our side. It doesn’t seem to occur to most that we could meet in the middle and try to have a quieter conversation about what divides us, and more importantly, what connects us.

Of course strive doesn’t have to be a negative word.

Afterall, you don’t drift upstream nor float up mountains. If you hope to go against the tide you have to strive, success doesn’t fall in your laps, you have to strive to achieve most anything of value.

But striving alone?

Or worse, stiving against others.

Those are such draining and destructive concepts.

Thankfully, there’s something better…much better. How’s this for warming your heart…

“Striving together.”

Oh if we could only understand and practice this in our country: in our communities, our churches and social arenas and in our homes, especially in our homes for it all begins or fails there.

Of course it would first require standing together on something – locked arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder – agreeing on something, believing in something…together.

But of course, that’s the great challenge of our times…

Not the striving together part, but the slowing down enough to listen and learn and seek some common ground part. For its impossible to strive together effectively unless you’re first standing together.

The ONE THING for today: First find something – just one thing – that you can agree on and then strive…strive together in the one place you can both stand. It is surprising how quickly the next step reveals itself.

Will there ever be complete unity? Not in this life. But there can be enough unity that we have enough common ground on which to build a better life together on.

We must not stop believing that or we’re lost.