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A Team of Christians
Football is in full swing this fall. You may watch high school, college, or professional groups of individuals who are working together for a common goal, which is to win. These individuals must work as a team to be able to accomplish their goals of being successful. I believe that working as a team is a lot like being a Christian. We need to be ready for our competitor; we need to work together to reach our goal. And how will we use our gifts so that we can all succeed in going to Heaven?
By nature, sports are a competition, but to compete you must be in the game. Just as a coach chooses players to be in the football game, God has chosen us. Our competitor is focused on our defeat. “Be sober, be vigilant; because the adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
We also compete against ourselves. It is sad to say, but just like in real life football games, most of the people in the stadium sit in the stands. Then, there are those who are on the team but sit on the bench. Some of us prefer to rest on the bench (or pew) and observe the game – both with encouragement and more often with criticism about how others are playing on the field. God doesn’t call us to be spectators, but participants. Our field is the world, and our goal is to win it for Jesus Christ. “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.” Matthew 13:38
Sure, some will have a special call to play a bigger role, but everyone is called onto the field to play. Even if you may not have a key role on a particular play, you must still be ready at a moment’s notice to dash onto the field and play your part when the coach calls your number to be on the field. You must clearly know your position, train, and practice your plays to be best prepared for that moment when you might be called upon to make a difference in the game. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15
“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4
As a coach, I instill in my players that they must work as a team to be successful. You are not going to win every game, but you can support and build each other up. As we stumble, we need that helping hand of our team to get us back onto our feet. Do not be that person who casts doubt and shame on a teammate.
“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” Romans 14:13
We live in a society that praises athletes with tremendous talent but never looks at the ones who support that player. We also live in a world that is highly competitive and looks only up to those teams that win. As people, we want to be on the winning team and feel that success.
Paul’s challenge to consider others better than ourselves wars against selfishness. That advice can go against our nature sometimes. We know that winners are rewarded, and no one wants to be a loser.
Yet, Paul exhorted us to focus, not on our gifts and ourselves, but on others and their gifts. That doesn’t mean that I deny what God has given me, but it does mean that I value highly what God has given others. Everyone has some skill that makes him or her better than we are at some things. No one has it all, and what God has given others is important to us. Each individual has some unique combination of gifts and personality that gives him or her great value.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” Philippians 2:3-4.
No one in the crowd ever gains a yard on the field. No one in the crowd ever adds a single point to the scoreboard. The game is played and won by the players on the field, and not by anyone else. Are you in the game… or a spectator? Just being a “sideline Christian” isn’t enough. You are called to be on the playing field, not in the stands nor on the sidelines. Are you on the field playing the game and gaining ground for Jesus Christ, or are you merely watching the game? The clock is ticking away, and time is running out. Get in the game before you lose your chance forever!
Jay Silvers
