Team Jesus
“But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’” – 1 Samuel 8:19-20
Dear Friends,
While the weather is still warm, Fall is upon us because school has started and so has Football! Even if you’re not a diehard fan, there is something fun about putting on the colors of your high school or college alma mater and cheering together. It feels like you’re part of something bigger. You can even think of it as a more civilized way to do battle.
Unfortunately, it can go sideways quickly when we take it off the field and into our daily lives. Lots of crazy things have been done in the name of “rivalries” because we’re cheering for, or following a different person.
The Apostle Paul found himself in the middle of this in Corinth. It turns out, one of the largest churches in the Roman Empire was dividing itself into factions that followed different leaders. Some followed Apollos, some Peter (Cephas) and some Paul. And they were turning against each other because of the different teachings they had adopted based on the ministry of these leaders. In the third chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul admonishes them strongly. He claims that each leader had a hand in this church and each believer’s growth and development, but it was God who actually made the growth happen. No one should be claiming to be a follower of any of these leaders – they should be a follower of Jesus!
It reminds me of what we talked about Sunday.
I’m always flattered when someone says that they’re attending Canonsburg UP, or decided to join, because they’ve been moved by something I’ve said or done. Who wouldn’t be? But what really matters is whether I’m pointing people toward Jesus, whether they’re developing a relationship with the Eternal God, not just the temporary preacher. (Not that I have any plans to leave anytime soon). But we, just like the Corinthians, too easily divide ourselves along the lines of who we’re following, what denomination we’re in, what scholar or theologian we’re preferential toward, whose new book we’re adopting – and therefore, who’s not in our camp, and who’s our… enemy.
That’s not the way of Jesus.
I want to encourage you to seek Jesus. This Fall, especially, to grow in Jesus. In prayer and in play, in service and in song, in work and in worship, in every way possible, open yourself up to God, not just to the author you’re reading, the preacher you’re listening to, or the talking head who’s blaring at you from the other side of that screen on the wall or in your hand.
If you want to put on your colors and cheer for your team, go ahead. I certainly will be this Fall – but I’m going to be working really hard to leave that on the field, and remember that those battles are really just for fun. But the rest of life, really all of life, when given over to Jesus as my King of Kings and Lord of Lords, plays out just so much better. That’s an area that I’m working really hard to grow in this Fall, and I invite you to join me too!
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus,
Pastor Don