The Huddle
Movement Live Notes
Hi friends! Have you ever taken a moment and thought about the benefit of the huddle? We watch football games and see the teams huddle on the field as the quarterback calls out plays. We also watch as each team member takes their position after the huddle. What they do when they return to the field is dependent upon which play the quarterback calls out. You see, they understand that there's some organization that needs to be happening; some regrouping that needs to happen. They know that there's a means to an end for the huddle. But we don't just want to watch the huddle, right? We want to see what was instructed in the huddle played out on the field. We want to see the opposing team lose. What often happens for believers is we gather together in huddles on Sunday morning, or social justice protests, or media press conferences, or simply just around the television, sometimes forgetting to play our part once the huddle has broken. The effectiveness of God's people cannot be measured by the huddle, but rather it can be measured by how we move from the huddle. How are we carrying out our part of the play? The test of the church is what we do when we move from our huddles.
What we need today are people of God who represent the character of Christ. Not only when they are gathered together, but when they are disseminated. Let’s look at Acts 17:22-31. In this passage, Paul is speaking to the Athenians. They were known as judicial and religious people. Paul walked around, observing everything around him, seeing the different places where the Athenians huddled to worship. As Paul is passing through, he stopped for a moment to speak to the people. He wanted to acknowledge something important, their religious background. Paul even speaks to the fact that there are several influences the Athenians worshiped in their culture. He lends to those influences so that he can actually borrow their ear. Paul proclaims God, announcing that He is the God who created all things and is the Lord of heaven and earth. He announces that God is a God who doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands. Instead, He is a God that dwells within all that He has created. Paul speaks to the Athenians, telling them that what they have accepted as their own culture is not the culture of God. God’s culture is kingdom.
The reason I am speaking to this is because many of us right now are looking at what's happening in culture. Perhaps we identify that our culture is whatever color we are, or as our people group, but that, in fact, is not what our culture is. Instead, we should be considering what our culture truly is. You see, Paul is evangelical. He is missional in the marketplace. He's seen acknowledgments of an unknown god, and he's calling everyone's attention to the God that is creator of all. He's calling their attention to become the incarnate gospel. Paul closes his sermon by claiming that the time of ignorance is over and calling for repentance. In your reading time, please be sure to read this entire chapter of Acts. There's so much to be lifted from there. Paul's purpose is clear, just as our purpose is clear. He calls their attention away from themselves, or away from their things, or away from their agendas, or away from their political affairs. He’s there to call their attention to the God of all creation.
As we’re gathering in the huddle around the television, or huddles in public protesting, or huddles within your community and in the marketplace, let’s be intentional to point all beyond ourselves, beyond our issues, and towards the kingdom of God.
