DO NOT BE A LONE RANGER

 

TEXT: 2 CHRONICLES 11: 10-15

“10 Now these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

11 And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains; he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.

12 After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. 13 He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So, the people fled from the Philistines. 14 But they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So, the Lord brought about a great victory.”

A lone ranger is the one who acts alone without consultation or seeking opinion of others. In the journey of life, you need people around you- you need people to travel the journey with you so that when life and situation happens, you will see people to encourage, advice, and give you shoulders to learn on. In addition, we need people of like minds to journey with us, so that they will be there to inspire, commend, correct, support and redirect us whenever there is need to do so.

There is a quote that “if you want to walk fast, walk alone, but if you want to walk far, walk together.” While walking far may seem beneficial to you as you will encounter no delay- as you would be able to walk at your own pace. However, you may be heading fast in the wrong direction! Since nobody is walking along the path with you, getting support or head up from friends or people will be impossible.

On the other hand, if you want to walk far, then you need to walk together with others. Walking together with others may seems slow as you do not have the liberty to walk at fast pace- You will have to wait for others that are on the journey with you and ensure you walk at their pace. Nonetheless, the good side of this is. You will be able to walk far- you will achieve more than you would have achieved if walking alone at fast pace. You will not miss your direction when you walk with others, because the Bible says in Proverbs 11:14 that “but in the multitude of counsellors, there is safety.” Walking with others brings wisdom, resilience, perseverance, tolerance, knowledge sharing, encouragement, and ideas to handle issues of life.

In this new day and age, no one is an island. If you think you are so good and everyone else is bad, you may not go far in life. No matter how efficient and knowledgeable you are, you need the combined effort and support of other people for you to be able to achieve much. Partnership, collaboration, and networking are key factors to success in this new age- No matter what talent you possess, they are limited.

Jesus Christ was not a lone ranger even though he had all the power to do things by himself without needing support from people. Yet, exemplified the need for teamwork by building his team players in form of his disciples who joined him in his service to achieve his purpose on earth. This tells us that in this world multiplicity of talents and wisdom are required to achieve purpose. You must be able to interact, relate with people and learn from them as you CAN NEVER know it all.

Do not be a lone ranger either in your ministry, your establishment, or in your community. You need other people’s support to advance or overcome obstacles that you may find difficult to handle on your own.

Walking together may be slower than walking alone, but it is more beneficial to walk with people of like minds- it will help you to go far in life. No man is an Island. Our text spoke about how God provided mighty men for David to support him during his reign as a king in Israel.  These people helped him to fight his battles against his adversaries.

The second text talks about how God provided help to Moses through the seventy elders of Israel to share in the burden. Are you a minister of God or a head of an organisation? How do you treat the people that the Lord brought your way to lift your hands up and share from your burden? Are you walking alone or walking with them? are you approachable? Can they bring up ideas and suggestions to the table when there is any decision to be made, or do you think their ideas does nor count because you are their leader?

If as a leader, you are leading alone without any input from people around you, it means you are walking fast as a lone ranger, and it may not lead to a successful journey. Do not be a lone ranger- carry the good people that the Lord has connected you with along- walk with them so that they can support, encourage, motivate, and call you back on track with respect. Give them the opportunity to bring in ideas to the table, let them have the freedom to give you godly advice when you need one. God bless you.

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