In football, the team huddles before each play. The players gather in a circle and the quarterback give them the next play, making sure each player understands his assignment. But the huddle is not the game. The game is played when the players line up in their positions and the quarterback takes the ball from the center and hands off, or passes, or keeps the ball, and whoever gets the ball drives for the goal line. That is the game.
The huddle is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end. It is not what goes on in the huddle that counts, but what goes on outside the huddle.
The church also huddles. It gathers for worship, for learning, for fellowship and mutual concern, and at its best, for assignments for service. The gathering is an important and necessary part of what Christ wants the church to be. But the huddle is not the game, either in football or in the church. It is not what goes on inside the church that is important. What goes on outside the church as a result of what went on inside the church is important. The gathered church is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.
The church in Antioch gathered together in the huddle: “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting,” [in the huddle] “the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” [This sounds like what the quarterback does in the huddle.] “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Cyprus.”
Barnabas and Saul went out of the huddle to carry out their assignment, and they did it well. The Book of Acts is a series of huddles and action.
The huddle is important and necessary in both football and the church. In football a player doesn’t get into the game unless he is first inthe huddle. In football the huddle is important because of what goes on in the huddle, and every player knows it. In the church the huddle is so important to the life of a Christian that we know we cannot really get into the game unless we gather with the church. The huddle inspires, celebrates, and at its best assigns responsibilities to those who come together as the gathered church.
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