Lessons From Sports – Part 2, On The Team

Given March 2010

We learned last week that some are fans of the God team and some choose to be on the team.  So we’re now on the team but there are some other factors which determine what we’ll do there.

I’ve seen there are different levels of participation on the team.  On a sports team you have everything from 4th string, who are inexperienced or untrained and need more work to advance, to the 1st string who have put in the time and have the talent and get to do most of the playing.  The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string spends most of their time on the sidelines watching the others and waiting for their time to go into the game. But they are on the team and a little closer to the action than the fans in the stands and they have the uniform.  Their goal is to get better, gain more skills, and move up to 1st team…most of them.

However, some on the team are satisfied to do the minimum they can get by with and just wear the uniform. They aren’t really interested in doing what it takes to move up to the 1st team.  They wave at Mom in the stands and are happy, but…they get the rewards when the team wins and experience the grief when they don’t.

When Christians “get on the team”, they’re inexperienced, untrained in the ways of God, and need time and effort to move up in the Kingdom.  “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 9:25).  But it appears not everyone in church wants to be on the “first team”; some of us seem to not be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to move from glory to glory, (2 Corinthians3:18).  Too many seem to be satisfied to just wear the uniform.  Oh, we’ll make it to the “big game” and get some kind of reward which will be great.  But God is looking for a few who will step up, make the sacrifices, and be first teamers.  Are you game?