It's Not About Us.......

Opening day of baseball season found me on the road but trying to listen intently to various radio stations in order to keep up with the events of the day. On my way home, I was able to listen to KMOX out of St. Louis. They are the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals and they had been on the air with their opening day coverage since 5 AM. It was now sometime between 10:30 and 11 PM. And they were to be on with their opening day coverage til midnight. My beloved Cardinals had lost their game and it seemed the announcers were working hard to find things to talk about. But one of the sports new items that they talked about carried what I think is a great lesson for all of us. Due to the nature of the day, this story kind of flew under the radar but I think it was huge. In St. Louis there is a professional hockey team called the St. Louis Blues. They've been around for a long time. Since I'm not much of a hockey fan, I can't tell you how they've done. The news for that day was that management of the team had handed down a two-day suspension to one of their young, up-coming stars. It seems he had missed a team practice for no apparent reason. Maybe he just didn't feel like being there....I don't remember any reasons be talked about. One of the on-air personalities made a comment that really has stuck with me. He said, "This young man needs to learn that no one player is more important than the team." It's all about the team. The young man later apologized and made amends to his team and to the fans of the team. He even donated his earnings from the two days he was suspended to a local charity. Seemingly, he has learned his lesson, only time will tell. I've been thinking about this sports news quit a bit over the past few weeks. I think it's a great lesson for us in the church. It's not about us. It's about Him! It's about the Church, the body of Christ and what's best for the team. Recently I've been teaching from the New Testament book of James and spent some time talking about the identity of the author. Most scholars believe James was the younger, half-brother of Jesus. We don't know when he came to faith but he did. After Jesus' ascension to heaven, James joined the folks in the Upper Room and soon after that it appears he became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. It appears that James presided over the first Church Council in Acts 15. And Paul refers to him as one of the "pillars of the Church" in the New Testament book of Galatians. I've been caught up in the opening words of James' letter. He identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." He could have said, "James the brother of Jesus, the Messiah" or he could have said, "James, the head of the Church in Jerusalem." But he didn't. He identified himself as a servant. He knew none of this was about him. It was about Christ. It was about the Church. He was a servant of both! He was a tool being used to build the team.....the Church. The Psalmist wrote in 115:1, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." And when Jesus taught his followers to pray in Matthew 6, it was, "your kingdom come"....not my kingdom; and it was "your will be done" not my will be done. Paul wrote in Colossians 1 that Christ was the head of the Church. The only head. It's not a two headed or multi-headed monster. But sometimes it doesn't seem to appear that way, does it? It's not easy putting others first or putting the best interests of the team.....the Church before our own. But it's what servants do. It's what we are called to do. And when we do the right thing, it's always right for us. If we all work together; serving one another; serving Christ; doing our part in the body of Christ, there will be many goals scored.....even a few hat tricks along the way but they all will be for the glory of God, building His team......the Church! Always in Pursuit!