While it might sound obvious in retrospect, one of the most critical design decisions Nintendo made when developing their home gaming console was including more than one controller port. Even though most arcade games were single player experiences at the time, Nintendo had the foresight to understand the future of gaming would be best experienced by gamers playing together in community with each other.  Whether taking turns in the original Super Mario Brothers or playing cooperatively in Contra, the act of gaming together with a partner might not always make the game less challenging, but sharing the journey was always more fulfilling.

Every time the Lord sent His disciples out on missions to serve Him, He placed them into pairs or groups first. We weren’t commissioned to serve Him as lone wolves… we were designed to fight these battles in true community within the body of Christ, joined by our fellow servants and co-op partners in life as well as ministry. Taking on a game that was designed for 2-4 players by yourself isn’t just a lonely way to play, it is a reckless and unproductive strategy that typically results in frustration and failure. Let’s be the hands that help raise up someone else’s arms in their battle today, because we weren’t designed to beat this game alone. We’re better together.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

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