The Same Team.....

"Some of you are saying , "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter," or "I follow only Christ." Has Christ been divided into factions?" 1 Cor. 1:12-13a

Being a Baptist gal born & raised I have spent my fair share of time at/in church. Let me be the first to say, I ADORE the Body of Christ, which is why I am writing today's post....
We only need look around us to see how our society and the world at large are heralding the soon coming return of our Lord and King! Soon and very soon, our faith shall become sight! In that, I rejoice, but I would be lying if I said that my heart isn't also burdened down with heaviness and sadness over some other things that are equally as obvious....
In our scripture reference, we hear Paul expressing his concerns over divisions within the church. His question in the beginning of verse 13 brings to mind something I've witnessed over the years in watching my sons play the game of Basketball.
Often, in the heat of the game, the fellas will be poised under the hoop diligently watching and waiting for the basketball to make it's way to, or through, the net so they can "box-out" their opponent and grab the ball for a rebound for their team. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen kiddos from the same team thrashing and fighting for the ball with such concentration and determination that they fail to even realize that they are fighting one of their own teammates....but luckily, we dedicated sports-parents are always present and are quick to "coach" from the stands and  yell out "Same Team!"  in the hope of making the players aware that they are actually inhibiting one another from accomplishing the very purpose for which they are even playing the game in the first place.....and nothing breaks or saddens my heart more than witnessing this very same thing within the Body of Christ......
Go back and read it for yourselves, but I believe that Paul was attempting not only to remind the Corinthian believers of the destructiveness and Kingdom hindering work caused by divisions within the Body, but his message was intended to be one of reproof for us as well......
Whether it be Denominational differences, styles of worship, or just plain old in-fighting, this offers us a graphic picture of what happens when the church, or the people in it, are divided.....
So, here's our challenge......just like in the game of Basketball, as followers of Christ, we need to remember that we too have an opponent who delights in nothing more and does nothing better than causing us to thrash and fight with our teammates, while slyly duping us into forgetting that our true fight is actually against his opposing team..... (Eph. 6: 10-18)
How much healing might we render in the Body, and how many senseless quarrels might be avoided if we took the time to yell out "SAME TEAM!" and remind ourselves and one another that our Jesus, in fact, is NOT divided....never has been and never will be! Our allegiance must be to Him and the unity He desires......
Although the reality of this truth saddens me, it is not one I can say I've lived out, or have even witnessed being lived out with consistency and passion.....it is a great goal for us to press on toward though....wouldn't you agree?