Who’s on the Front of your Jersey?
Theme: Who’s on the Front of your Jersey?
Verse: For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12: 4-5)
I’m a big baseball fan. When asked which team I cheer for, I have a standard answer. My top two are the St. Louis Cardinals (as I grew up there) and the Tampa Bay Rays (as that is where I now live). The third team I cheer for consistently is whichever team happens to be playing the New York Yankees that day.
As much as I cheer for the Yankees to lose, I do respect one aspect of their team culture. Did you ever notice the Yankees do not have names on the back of their jerseys? Why, you ask? It’s not because they ran out of thread to stitch the names on the back and I don’t think it is because they can’t spell their own last names. It is because the culture insists they play for the team rather than themselves.
It’s probably not a coincidence, then, the Evil Empire has won 27 World Championships, seven more than the next two teams on the list combined (The Cardinals being #2 with 11 and the Red Sox and A’s tied, each with 9).
Playing for the team means sacrificing our own ego and doing what is right for the group. We represent a group in many things we do. It might be our school, our city, our country, our business, or even religious affiliation.
Yes, when people identify us as Christians, we have put on the jersey that has Jesus’s name on the front. We are doing whatever our activity is in His name. It is often easy to forget this and become prideful trying to take the podium and glory for ourselves.
There is no room for ego when we compete in the name of Jesus. After all, He did more for others than we can over do. No, when we compete, we need to accept responsibility when we err and give credit to others for their part in helping us win. The world needs to see something different in us when we compete.
If we always think of the front of the jersey instead of the back, it will help us become the “New York Yankees” of whatever competition we are engaged in.
Have a GREAT week!
Adapted from True Competitor by Dan Britton and Jimmy Page