IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY MORNING, with a much-needed break in our month of rain, I headed out on a run along West Cliff Drive. It was a great morning for a run, yessiree, but there were more runners out than I had expected, but after a few steps into my run, I realized that I was running with a bunch of old friends that I had never met before. They were from Team-in-Training, out for a 12-mile training run.

It didn’t take long before I drew alongside one of the Teammates and entered into a conversation about the wonderful work that Team-in-Training does. We talked of future races and the joys of training and running together and of course the beauty of the day unfolding before us. As we said our goodbyes and hailed a “Go Team!” I was stuck by how I was caught up in what they were doing, and how I was welcomed, even though I was not “officially” running for the Team this year. The main thing was we all knew the importance of raising funds for leukemia research, and the joy of running as we did so.

As I settled into my own cadence, I was drawn to think how the Church is much like running as part of the Team. It doesn’t matter that if you’re fast or slow. It doesn’t matter if you’ve run ten marathons or if this is your first foray into the world of running. What matters is that you want to help raise awareness and funds for an important goal – saving lives.

Is that not what it means to be part of the church? It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor or if you have great talents or not. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, been a follower of Jesus for years or just starting out. What matters is you want to help save lives through the proclamation of the good news about Jesus Christ. So, let’s lace up our shoes and hit the roads and together move toward the goal.

GO Team!