During his tenure at Notre Dame, head coach Lou Holtz would not permit his players to stitch their names on the back of the jerseys.  When asked about this particular policy, Holtz replied, “At Notre Dame, we believe the interlocking ND is all the identification you need.  If your priority is the team rather than yourself, what else do you need?”

     If this principle of teamwork is true in the sports world, it is certainly true for believers in a local church.  Churches experience division when individuals place more priority on what they want rather than what is good for the “team.”

     What binds us together as believers is the blood of Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul said, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ…And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were far off, and to them that were nigh” (Ephesians 2:15-17).  We are united in Christ.

     When it gets down to it, the name on the back of the jersey is not as important as the name of the front.  Victory comes when we lose our identity and unite under His name.  He must increase, we must decrease.