Choose a Team

When we are young, we cringe at the idea of ‘choosing teams’ in gym class. The ‘time tested’ method of choosing who you wanted to compete with brought stress both to the captain and to those remaining unchosen. Choose incorrectly and you lose.

Brethren, you who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, Christ made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?

Colossians 2:13-20

A smart team captain would consider the event before picking teams, and then evaluate the candidates based upon who he could predict as winners. The same is true for our spiritual journey, except the risk of losing is much greater.

When we were baptized into Christ we were placed on a team. Our team captain is Christ and He chose us out of the world to compete on His team for life. Saint Paul asks, “Why do you still live as if you still belonged to the world?” The ‘world’ team will always lose.

Unlike gym class, we don’t have to panic about being popular or muscular. We are picked by Christ because He loves us and wants us to win. And unlike gym class, He has given us the best equipment with the best trainers and coaches to help us win. It isn’t a fair competition.

If we remain on Christ’s team, we will always win. The problem is we often switch teams in the middle of the game. We see the ‘other team’ enjoying the party instead of training and we think we would prefer the party. You can’t win without training.

The Church represents the team that is constantly training for the big game because everyday is gameday. We still enjoy the small wins along the way, we call Feast days, but we never take our eyes off the prize. As members of Christ’s team, we know the benefit of hard work.

The Nativity Fast is a chance to ‘get back on the winning team’ if we have switched teams. We don’t have to wait for a ‘new game’ to switch back to Christ’s team, the Church. Join our team as we train for the big game this year for Christmas. We will celebrate later, but now we train.

Before you get ‘too far’ from Christ’s team, make time to meet with your spiritual father and get back to training. If you don’t have a spiritual father, this would be a good time to select one. Every team needs a coach, even in the Church.

Now that we have our teams….let’s get out there and win the game for Christ!