Surrendering for the Team by Patti Shene
SURRENDERING FOR THE TEAM
My granddaughter’s high school basketball team is winding down the 2018 season. This week, I and several other fans gathered at our home town high school gym to attend the “pigtails” game, with the winning team moving on to district competition. We won the game by a narrow margin, indicating the teams were evenly matched in skill and ability.
Each player on both teams did their best to add points to their team’s score. Fans decked out in our home team’s Trojan blue shouted encouragement and cheers from bleachers on both sides of the court. The crowd roared and thundered their approval each time a basket was made or a defensive block occurred.
Yet, one young lady stood alone that evening under the lights of the gymnasium. Dressed in red, she represented the cheerleading squad for the opposing Chargers. Undaunted by the overwhelming number of home team fans, she shouted her heart out to the handful of Charger fans in attendance.
Despite my desire to see our team claim victory, I felt a great deal of admiration and respect for this high school student, who, against incredible odds, made her voice heard above the crowd.
She never lost faith in her team, their fans, or most of all, herself. She cheered her heart out for a cause she believed in. She was there to do her part, to support the girls in red on the court and on the bench, and she fulfilled her role with pride.
Her presence required guts, to shout encouragement for her team in the face of the home team’s screaming fans. Her dedication demanded determination to repeat her routines and her cheers against the larger number of cheerleaders rooting for the home team. Her loyalty showed commitment to friends, family, and fans.
She surrendered her comfort and vulnerability for the benefit of her team.
Her perseverance reminded me of the stand we as Christians are called to take in our daily lives. We are expected to set an example to others, even when it’s not easy. When the shouts of the naysayers drown us out, we are to proclaim our message into the fray, even if it falls on the ears of only one other person.
When no one else is willing to brave the opposition, we have a responsibility to meet the challenge anyway.
Even if we have to do it alone.
We must honor our faith’s basic beliefs with such strength that our behavior inherently manifests itself amid the deafening roar of the majority.
We are commissioned to champion the cause of Jesus Christ, to love others at our own expense. We are required to sacrifice for other people even when it’s uncomfortable, or inconvenient, or difficult.
We can trust our Savior to equip us with the tools to accomplish the mission He has assigned each of us. Whether in the workplace or at school, in our churches or our organizations, with our neighbors or family members, we all have the opportunity to surrender our insecurities to Christ and the cross.
If we each manifest as much loyalty to our Savior as that one young lady did to her team on a cool evening in a small town high school gymnasium, the kingdom of God would be glorified with the power to change the world forever.
Patti Shene Gonzales hosts Step Into the Light, a weekly blog talk radio show, where she interviews guests who ‘lead others out of darkness…and back to light’ through their personal experiences or ministries. Patti invites published and pre-published writers to post on her two blogs, Patti’s Porch and The Over 50 Writer, found on her website, www.pattishene.com.
