In a couple of weeks the All-Star Game will take place. It's the game where supposedly the best players from the NFL, as voted on by fans, play in one game. You'd think with all that star appeal that you wouldn't be able to get a ticket. And if you did it would certainly cost more than the Super Bowl, right? Wrong. My quick check on stubhub showed tickets for under $50 for the All-Star game. For the Super Bowl? They start at $2,000+. Why? Because we all know the All-Stars aren't really playing their best in that game. An injury might "mess up their contract." After the game, they go back to play for their "real team."
And like one preacher said, "Christians ought not play like All-Stars."i
In an all-star game, the players wear a temporary jersey for the game but they wear their home-team helmet. Christians can be like that. I've got the jersey that says, "Christian" but the helmet that says, "Hipster Church," "Conservative Republican," "Calvinist," or "Cool Multicultural Java-drinking Tatt-wearing Twenty-Something." We might be a Jesus-follower but after Sunday is over, we go back and play on our real team.
But it’s not supposed to be like that. Those who are truly impacted by the gospel wear the same helmet: the helmet of salvation. And our theme song? “Amazing Grace.” Christians have all received the same grace that not one of us deserves! Ephesians 4 tells us we have the one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all! That's what makes us all one team.
Christianity is not a solo sport. It thrives in the context of team. Who's on yours? Does anybody have your blind side? Your back? Don't be an all-star.
iThis quote is attributed to Thabiti Anyabwile from a Together for the Gospel Conference. I've tried to find the quote and give him proper credit but so far I haven't found it.
