Football, Formation, and Faith: Formation Happens Best in the Context of Community.
“On a team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together.” — Bill Belichick
We’ve often heard the saying, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
And, true while that may be, most communal endeavors – ones that contribute to lasting change – drink from a deeper well.
Team, or teamwork, is like the water that pours from the tap.
The reservoir below the surface is something more closely aligned with the experience of family.
Or, as a football player might express, “a brotherhood.”
The team that performs as a unit on the field, accomplishing the individual tasks in a way that supports the entire team’s goal, is birthed from relationships built over time by the bands of brotherhood.
Achievement Connected to Teamwork
As any athlete worth his/her salt will tell you, when looking back on their career, their achievements on the field can be credited, in large part, to the family or team that provided both the context and the challenge in which they could blossom and grow – over time – into the athlete and person they have become.
In a church and culture seemingly bent on worshipping at the altar of autonomy and individualism, perhaps we should reconsider the ramifications family involvement and commitment, particularly in relationships to formation.
As I’ve said in previous posts, Formation- lasting change over time -takes place within the context of community.