stock-photo-26137855-evacuationI’m one of those people who sees a life lesson in a lot of different things, and movies are definitely one of them.  A favorite of late has been the Avengers. It’s great, I love the plot, the script, just everything about it, but the last few months, I’ve been pondering about what my youth group calls a cadre.

A cadre is a small band of revolutionaries, a small group that can sometimes get the job done better than a mass of people. I watch the end of the Avengers, and see how they have a small band of people facing down a large, intimidating army, each in their own strengths. It seems overwhelming, but working in partnership they do triumph. And go for shwarma afterwards.

It’s Not the Size

I’ve been thinking about the concept of a small band of people a lot because I hear so much from students and campus ministers that are discouraged by the size of their groups. Whether they’re just starting out, or they’ve been around for a while and haven’t grown (or have decreased in number), the people that turn out to events and meetings can have a lot to do with how encouraged or discouraged they can feel about the calling to which God has called them.

Yes, it’s something tangible that we can see, but God tends to specialize in working through the small groups. He inhabits the two or three that gather in His name(Matt. 18:20), He sends the 12 untrained and untaught to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6). He makes three kings bow down to a small, very poor child(Matt. 1:11), He has one prophet face down 450 other prophets of Ba’al, laughing and mocking all the way(I Kings 18).

He pares down an army of over 3,000 to just 300 and says, “Now, we can win this fight.” (Judges 7) He sends a young man to kill a giant and encourage a mighty army(I Samuel 17), and another young man and his armour bearer face on another army(I Samuel 14). And then they have their version of shwarma afterwards(I Samuel 14:27).

A Small Band of Revolutionaries

One of my favorite sayings is, “We can do so much more together than we can apart.” Our efforts together have an exponential effect. Partnership with one another is key, praying for the Lord to use us, and encouraging one another in our day to day lives. When you have that, you can be with the two or three, or with two or three hundred.

Either way, you’re partnering with the Lord, and He will bring the fruit. And you can enjoy that with shwarma afterwards.

summit profileAkpene Torku is a campus worker who presently lives in New York City. She has a very strong passion to see the Body of Christ working together, and for the Campuses to be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus. She loves hanging out and playing games (the current favorite is Settlers of Catan), and can be bribed with chocolate.