" Faith is given in sufficient quantities to faith communities. God won't give you more than ya'll can handle. Faith is a team sport not this individual competition."
Last night I had the priveldge of watching Xman play baseball. There may be nothing sweeter than his smile just before the game begins.
His coach currently has this handle bar mustache thing going on. The boys have an incredible relationship with him and as a fun joke, they all drew one on themselves.
Solidarity. Team work.
It's not just about the score while they are on the field, it's about the relationships off the field.
In my classroom teaching days, I always enjoyed a class full of boys more than one that was full of girls.
Boys get mad at each other - they get loud, they voice the problem, they insist it be addressed, and then - they move on. Not always, but often.
Girls I always found a drama that never ended.
Today's society has made drama so easy.
It's also made walking away something you can do with a click of a button.
The hard thing about being on a team is that you can't just unfriend or unfollow.
You have to keep showing up.
To every practice. To every game. To every event.
You have to be all in.
So regardless of what happens between these boys, this coach has taught them that you rise above.
Because the score is never the end game.
Who they are as people - that's the end game.
I've felt heavy this week.
Several friends are carrying burdens too large.
The losses in our community feel deep.
I keep circling back to that quote I heard in a sermon recently.
Faith is a team sport.
We are made to keep showing up for each.
We are made to carry each other.
There are two kinds of students I've found. Those that love group projects, and those that hate them.
Those that love them see them as an opportunity to not be responsible for everything. Often a time to sit back and let someone else run the show.
Those who hate them end up being the person dragging four people they didn't like in the first place through something worth 20% of their final grade. Thus they end up doing it all.
Confession. I'm in the second group.
I'm not a team player.
Give me the rubric and let me tackle that on my own. Then I know it will be done right.
Maybe because sports were never my thing and I don't have enough practice.
Faith is a team sport.
That we as a big C Church are loosing.
We are too busy trying to win the individual competition that we've forgotten our responsiblity to the team.
This daily life - this is baseball.
Sure your at bat is important but more important is your defensive team work in the field.
More important is controlling the number of team errors.
More important is your collective goal.
Mama Warriors, I've been pondering today what our collective goal is as the big C Church.
Love God, Love People.
Love God, Love People as Jesus taught us to.
Are we being team players?
Not only does that challenge us to help carry each other's burdens, but are we asking people to help carry ours?
Are we all drawing the mustache on with a joyful heart?
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