Regular site visitors that are not cycling fans please bare with us as we do a second week of cycling based posting. We do think that if you read through this post the lesson contained will more then overcome any lack of interest you have in the overview topic. Thank you for your visit and the opportunity to share some wisdom God gave us.
For Him,
The Team Swap Team
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Well as regular visitors know cycling is always on the mind of Team Swap in July, even if Lance Armstrong was not racing. As we ponder cycling, and watch the Tour De France unfold daily on OLN, God revealed a special message to us. It is about the peloton.
For those that are not familiar with cycling the peloton is the name of the pack of riders. Peloton means a small military group; or platoon (source - Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, © 2003 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC) in French. So, basically the large group of cyclist are a platoon of riders. If we look for the most common use of the term platoon we find it to be the military one. In a military sense, a platoon is a grouping of soldiers that are operating as a unit for the purpose of achieving a set goal or objective. (Team Swap definition of a military platoon, so if we are wrong email us and we will change it).
If you have ever watched a cycling race, then that is a pretty good definition as well of how a cycling peloton acts. The peloton in its simplest form is a group of individual riders with personal and team motives and goals that are assembled together to achieve the goals set for them. Generally, that is to completing the race in as short a amount of time as possible, while helping the team leader accomplish their job of winning the race. For every race winner there is generally a team of hurting helpers behind them.
Along the way each person in the peloton has to sacrifice and suffer to achieve the assigned goal. Each rider in the peloton has different skills and abilities. When those specific abilities are needed the rider sacrifices and suffers to achieve the set goals by unselfishly using their personal abilities and skills to achieve those goals. They are usually not suffering for their own personal good, but for the good of their team or the whole group where the assigned goals can be met.
Individual members of the peloton may work to protect their leader from crashes, break away’s (small groups or individuals trying to get a lead on the pack), wind, or other forces that appear during the day’s ride. Some riders go to the front and pedal until they are exhausted to just keep the group at a high rate of speed. They may be doing this to chase down a small break away pack that is potential damaging not just to their leader, but to the whole of the peloton. All the riders work and sacrifice in an attempt to guarantee the successful completion of their duties.
When the peloton passes at speed the wind that it produces will almost knock a person down it is so powerful. It is not the power of one rider that is felt, but the power of the group literally creating a hole in the air due to their constant forward motion. On a flat straight road the peloton can cover the entire width of the road. Within that body there is a constant motion of individuals moving forward and attempting to maintain a speed that will bring the group home as quickly as possible. When the peloton corners, or descends, the wide body of the flat land peloton shifts to a narrow form like a snake, and it winds its way around and down to the wider and straight roads that allow it to reform into a large wide pack and then refocus on moving the pack forward quickly.
The peloton is based on the idea that everyone is actively working toward the end of the day. Part of that work is paying attention to the things that are going on around each rider. Each rider must pay attention to how close, or far, the nearest rider is to them on each side, as well as what is the road directly in front of them - be it another’s rider wheel, broken pavement, traffic furniture (roundabouts, concrete traffic dividers, pylons, etc), or open and clear road. When one rider stops paying attention they bump another rider’s body, clip someone else’s wheel, hit some broken pavement, cross a wet road line, or even hit some traffic furniture the result is a quick and usually devastating crash. Most crashes result in several riders being down, and at least one being severely injured. The peloton is divided, and the pack is broken, by the actions of just one inattentive or careless rider.
Much like the peloton in cycling Christians move in a pack, those packs are called churches. When you think about it, a church is merely a platoon of believers grouped to accomplish the same goal - taking their community, city, state, nation and world for Christ. Like every cyclist in the peloton, each person in the church body has a job too do. Within each church there are individuals with different gifts and abilities. Some are called to teach, others to evangelize, some preach, some administrate, some minister via music or art, and others simply serve quietly and invisibly. Some protect others from outside forces, some suffer to provide the needed nourishment or supplies to others, some break loose to explore a bit ahead of the group, some move to the front and keep the body moving forward when it begins to slow or get lazy, others wait for others to labor and lay the ground work and then in the final few meters launch out and finish the duties quickly and successful. They all are needed, they are all vital, and they are all dependent on the rest of the group acting the way they are suppose to. A good church is simply one where this diversity of skills, abilities, motives, and habits all work toward the same goal. All the members together form a God assembled platoon that can and will accomplish all that is set out ahead of them.
Over time this
body of believers may adjust it’s shape,
focus, attention, and direction, but it never stops moving forward.
That is the key. The body, and the individuals in it, are not functioning
for just their benefit, but for the benefit of their fellow members,
the church leaders, and ultimately the glory of God. The individual
suffering and pain that it takes to achieve the goals is part of
the price for being included in the group. Church need not be
painful, but it needs require us to be focused and directed to
labor for the needs of others ahead of ourself. The pattern
of the church member should not be one of individual glory, and
results based on self activity and focus, but one of selfless
work and labor where the body is strong and successful.
If just one does not follow through in their duties, or becomes careless,
the entire group can go down. From the inactivity and carelessness
of one can come needless pain, suffering, broken relationships, hurting
people, divisions within the body, and sometimes even permanent exclusion
from that particular pack. That is a painful result, yet it is possible
when we become lazy in our actions and our ways.
The goal of this post is to let you see that your local body is more then just a place for you to serve and be served. It is a group of people moving and working together for God. Your actions, and the actions of others, directly effect how that group functions. If everyone is focused and doing their jobs then God’s house is a beautiful thing to watch operate, but when a few, or even just one, become lazy and inattentive then the entire group can suffer and fall, resulting in meaningless pain and division within the body. Pray for God to reveal your role in your church, and in the complete body of Christ as well, and then perform that duty. Also, pray and be sure that you are being attentive and active in your labor, and not about to be the cause of a painful crash.
A ride with God is a beautiful thing when we all work together and perform our designated duties. Our platoon of believers expands when it needs, narrows to a thin focus when needed, and completes the duties assigned to it without injuring those involved. If we do all of that, God's goals will be met, His work will be finished, our labor will be completed, the body will be strengthened, and most of all God will be glorified.
