Challenges are a good thing. They’re even better when you have others to hold you accountable. Collaboration keeps you on track when you’re faced with a challenge. If you’re trying to accomplish something major enlist others to help you, support you, even call you out if need be. It’s much more difficult to drop the ball when you have someone else expecting you to keep it in the air.

Our church is working on a collaboration with two other churches. One of the other pastors has developed a 40-day challenge based on the red-letter words of Jesus from the Bible. All three of our churches are going to embark on this challenge beginning later this month. All our members will be able to sign up to receive a daily email that will have a Scripture passage quoting Jesus, a devotion to go along with those words, and then a challenge to carry out that day what Jesus has called us to do. Over the course of the forty days we will find a number of times for all three churches to worship and serve together.

There are really three levels of collaboration here:

1. The staffs of the three churches. We have already met to talk about ways we will work together and how we can help and support one another.
2. The three churches themselves. As members of the churches interact and get to know one another there will be a deeper bond with other members of the body of Christ. It will be a reminder that the church exists outside the walls of our own.
3. The members within each of those churches. When certain members of each church ask others how they are doing on the “challenges” it will create accountability and a sense of Christian camaraderie.

The more layers of accountability you can build, the more assured you will be that you accomplish something you set out to do. My wife, Tammy, and I are still working on the goals we set for ourselves this past January. We use collaboration to hold one another accountable. Since we know each other’s goals we can periodically check in with one another. We have also formally written them down and keep them in a prominent place, which is another level of accountability.

Collaboration is the leverage that can make even the toughest challenges a bit more manageable. When faced with a challenge we can often use all the help we can get. Collaborators push, pull, encourage, and provide incentive. Surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you. You’ll find that you will accomplish much more.

With whom do you collaborate to accomplish your goals and overcome your challenges?