2 in, 2 out: Never go it alone

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a policy that is typically referred to as "two in, two out." Basically, the concept is that if an interior structural attack is instigated, there shall always be two people involved in that attack, and that those two individuals should be in direct contact with each other and with the outside personnel. In laymen terms: don't go it alone. (More Reading Here)

We have all seen the heroic firefighter movies (mostly cheesy, but entertaining) where a firefighter becomes a turnout gear-clad John Wayne of sorts and saves peoples' lives. This tactic certainly makes for a good movie, but the truth is that interior structural firefighting is unavoidably dangerous. If one makes the decision to go it alone, the result can be fatal.

How many of us has felt alone in this world? All have at some point. The beauty of our creation is that we were not intended to have to feel that way. While occasional loneliness is inevitable in this life, our God in all his wisdom has created a system through which we have individuals on whom we can rely... a buddy system, if you will. In fire service, this is two in, two out. In a Christ-community, it is two people, two disciplines (covered in the video below.)

I believe that when Christ sent out the 72 (rounded as seventy in some translations) in Luke 10, it was no coincidence that he did so in groupings of two. This intentional effort and giving partnerships of individuals on a common course can continue today.

This particular posting will be much shorter than my others, because I don't want to take any of your precious time when you could be reading an extremely beneficial resource below.

I have recently been reading a blog posting which ties into some similar concepts. You may have heard it referred to as "Church of Two" or CO2. Other simply refer to it as a method of keeping in contact with individuals. An easy example of why this is important:

I personally cannot keep in contact with the 1500 or so members of my congregation. Furthermore, if I did have contact with every one of those individuals, there is absolutely no chance that those contacts would really be anything more than superficial. However, if I have about three or four individuals with whom I have routine or even daily meaningful contacts, then those individuals have three or four of the same, soon all 1500 individuals in the congregation could have wonderful, meaningful relationships with other Christians... hence, a built-in buddy system.

If you feel like you might be struggling with the need for deep, meaningful relationships then I would encourage you to view this resource and consider trying some of these concepts.

For the root blog URL, view here.
For an understanding of CO2, watch the video below.

C02 Overview from TSP on Vimeo.

Final thoughts:
Have you had these experiences in the past and want to share how that worked for you?

What would your congregation look like if we really had everyone commit to having these deep meaningful relationships?