As I sat at a Ranger game, I was amazed at the crowd. Thousands of people piling into a stadium to
see men compete against the enemy using their talents, gifts and abilities. No
formal invitation, no “guest-list”, no “who’s-who” of attendees, and yet
thousands knew and arrived to watch the game.
Once there, a mass mentality came over people. With just 6 notes from the organ the entire
stadium erupted with the response of “charge”!
A message ran across the banner of “MAKE SOME NOISE” and they would rise
to their feet screaming and cheering and clapping. Let their favorite player make a good play
and their name was chanted over and over.
And heaven forbid the opposing team hit a home run, the person who caught
it was peer pressured with “THROW IT BACK” and upon throwing it back, some
other group would start screaming for the ball girl to throw it to them as if
“if they don’t want it I’ll take it” after cheering them to get rid of it. The American game. And let it be noted, I was in that crowd and
was up and cheering the Rangers on with the rest of them!
Here is what struck me…and there are some random thoughts
here, so stick with me. First, comparing
game attendance to church attendance.
Why is it that we will flock to the stadium, but to the church we almost
need an invitation handwritten in calligraphy, sealed and personally
delivered. Why don’t we just know when
the game is and show up ready to cheer on the ones who have been gifted and
called to lead the mornings worship and preach the Lord’s message? Why aren’t we warmed up and ready to
participate in the game by cheering them on with a hearty “amen” or
participating in the worship with our entire heart. Why aren’t we wearing our teams “colors” with
pride?
Second, the mass mentality.
At first thought, it would be GREAT to have that mind control over the
entire body. Amen’s on cue, stand up,
sit down, TITHE, even throw in the chicken dance every now and then just for
the preachers entertainment. But
wouldn’t church be easy. Get the whole
crowd fired up and at the sound of the organ, “charge”. But our God doesn’t work that way. And thank goodness He doesn’t. He is the owner who does send out those
personal invitations. Every person is
important to Him as an individual.
I giggle as I think of that 6 note run before the “charge”
erupting. Where is our battle cry? How
loudly are we proclaiming it in our churches?
Do we even know who our opponent is for sure? And do we realize that He is already
defeated? Our battle cry of “charge” is
in reference to ourselves…charge out, charge onward, charge to the hurting,
charge to the lost and dying all around us.
The best picture though is of this stadium of witnesses to
the battle below. You see, God’s Word
tells us there is such a thing. Only in
the Bible’s story, we are on the playing field, and the cloud of witnesses are
those who have gone before us in faith, led the way, blazed the trail, charged
ahead. Can you picture with your
spiritual eyes a crowd watching your life as you are on the field, called to
use your talents, gifts and abilities to the glory of the owner of our team,
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You
are called to proudly wear the teams color of crimson right along with
Him. You are being cheered on by a
stadium full of witnesses who are calling out your name in delight as you move
forward through the game. When the enemy
“hits one out of the park” against you, they don’t throw it back, they hold on
to it dearly as a spiritual marker for the next time when you make the play at
the wall. This great cloud of witnesses
are not nameless thousands. They are
named, and described, and documented in the book of Life all throughout
history, and there are even some given in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11.
Go out to the game.
Whether you cheer on someone else God is using at the moment, or you run
out onto the field yourself, know that God is with you, He has invited you to
participate in this game individually and by name, and He is the owner of the
team that has EVERY-season tickets and eternal membership.
PLAY BALL!
