As I read an article about the Tennessee Titans, I began to cry from deep within me. This NFL team is doing what I have longed for 55 years to see Christians do. The Titan players are opening up to one another and connecting heart-to-heart.

They call their unique approach to team building the 4Hs — Heroes, Hardship, Highlights, and History. They have divided their team into small groups unrelated to their football position. As the group meets and progresses week after week each person is asked to share about his heroes, the hardships he has faced, the highlights of his life, and his personal background.

Star wide receiver Calvin Ridley said: “I close the door, and I ask my group, ‘Tell me your Hs,’ and I tell no one to hold back to let everyone know what you have going on. Maybe we can help.” 

Rookie wide receiver Xavier Restrepo said this about the experience: “You have to know your guys on a personal level . . . that way when you are asking something from somebody, it is not out of disrespect. You know where they come from. You know their hopes and their heroes, and when in their life they have had a heartbreak.”

If it’s important for a football team to support and encourage one another with the comradery of honest, open-hearted community, it’s even more important for Christ-followers. I’ve searched for that kind of intimacy among Christians all my adult life and I’m sad to say that it is very hard to find. If you want a Spirit-led environment of open sharing, you usually have to create it yourself. Even then many people are threatened by it and do their best to stop it. That’s why the Titans article made me cry.