For the 17th Time – the Celts are the tops of the NBA. Sorry Laker fans – but this one was over after Game 1’s incredible Paul Pierce healing and subsequent resurrection! 🙂

But one word brought them all together. The South African word ubuntu (pronounced Ooh-BOON-too). It means (roughly) “I am, because we are.” I love it!

“A person is a person through other people,” coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers explained. “Because as good as you are, you can only be great or get what you want through other people.”

What a message for the body of Christ. I am valuable in the body of Christ because we are the Body of Christ. Is it any wonder why God wants none to perish? Life is only life experienced in the community of Christ.

Think of what Paul writes in Romans 12:3-5 (NIV) For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. [4] Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Next time the devil has you thinking you’re all alone, in a corner, and down and out – come to church and find the hundreds of people who are in the ring with you and find the life God intended for you!

And the next time you want to “go it alone” remember – that’s not what God created you for. You are who you are because of the people in your life!