Group Mentality.

All people (regardless of their demographics) want to fit in somewhere. Whether that "somewhere" is a group of close friends, a group of strangers, or a mixture of both...one of the main goals that everyone has in interaction is to feel connected. 

One place that I observed this recently was at an MLB game. People from all walks of life and various backgrounds meet at the same location at the same time, wearing the same team apparel, to eat the same hot dogs and drink the same drinks, to cheer when their team succeeds and join together in the agony of defeat when they fail. These people might cheer for that team because they know one of the players or because they just grew up that way, they might feel a sense of pride in their city and want to express it through applauding the domination of the city's team over another city's...but the overall motivation (whether they recognize it or not) for each of the fans paying to watch a game is so that they can feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. 

I think that the league and its sponsors realize this. They play songs and beats that will encourage unity among the fans, they sell more of the apparel that the fans already have, they encourage audience participation, and they promote products as "the official ______ of the team" because they know that brand loyalty is the ultimate success of any endeavor. If people feel that they are being included and wanted, they will continue to spend money to be a part of the bigger "game experience."

As I was considering this, I couldn't help but think about how the same theories should be able to apply to the church, but on a continuous cycle. It should be the case that we all go about our separate day to day lives, cheering for the same team, talking about its successes and failures, strategizing how the teammates could work better together for the good of the program, and growing together for God's ultimate glory. It's amazing to me that we often lose sight of the primary goal of shining the Light to the dark world that is so severely lacking hope, but we can join with unbelievers for a 3 hour baseball game and feel that we are finally a part of something. 

When we were saved, we became a part of the Ultimate Something, which is only partly known and revealed on this earth. After knowing Christ and making Him known, all other goals are penultimate. Good things can sometimes become the enemies of the best things. When we forget this, we can easily get caught up in trying to belong to a community that is temporary, rather than one that is eternal. Let us keep our eyes on the prize until the end of the race. Until then, we must remember that we have been adopted into God's family, meaning we are co-heirs to Christ's inheritance. We, as a community. This is comprised of infinitely higher comraderie than anything the world can offer.