I’ve been working on a presentation for the office this week. I spent one afternoon looking for quotes that would convey the prevalent idea, and found this one that ended up being the winner.
Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~ Vince Lombardi
Every office is made up of individuals who have dreams and goals. We live in America, after all, and we’ve been taught since we were little to reach for the “American Dream;” if we work hard, stay consistent, and break through our fear, we can achieve just about anything. All of this is true, and it’s true in our office, just as it is in yours, probably, and the one next door, and around the corner.
But, what we find is that when we get so focused on our own individual goals, it ceases to really be a large group with a common goal. And, if that office is part of a larger company, the office, itself, is supposed to operate as part of a group of other offices with a common company goal in mind. It’s about teamwork, and in this crazy individualism that is taking over our world, we forget that when we, like Mr. Lombardi suggests, place our individual commitment to a group effort, we combine our forces. We combine our strengths. We work for each other, thereby often reaching not only the group goals, but our own personal goals sooner than we ever imagined. The old adage about strength in numbers? It’s true.
We were given a “Great Commission” as believers, to “go into all the world” with gospel of Christ. He talked a lot about finding the lost, and going after the one lost sheep. The one individual person was, and is, of great worth to Him; every one. So as I was putting this presentation together, and considering how to convey the importance of working together to achieve individual success, I had to smile. Isn’t that exactly what believers are supposed to do? Not working together for our own individual success, but finding it in the process of pointing ‘the one’ to Where they’ll find theirs?
Individual commitment to a group effort…toward seeking and saving the lost Individual. Seeking and saving the one.
As a team, we’ll not just change the face of our workplace, but the face of the world…the face of eternity. And that right there is a very worthy goal.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil…a threefold strand is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12 ESV
“From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:16 ESV
“Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all.” Mark 16:15 MSG
Very good words! That presentation should do well. I know I fall short in my commitment to reach others for Christ. A good lesson for me!!